ECB monetary policy needs to remain 'substantially accommodating' - Visco

PISA, Italy (Reuters) - Bank of Italy Governor Ignazio Visco said on Monday that for Italy's economy to pick up the European Central Bank must avoid significant monetary tightening and Rome must pass growth-enhancing reforms.

"We have growth difficulties that are above all cyclical," Visco, who sits on the ECB's governing council, said at a book presentation in Pisa. "We need to tackle these by keeping ECB monetary policy substantially accommodating and through structural interventions."

Italy's economy contracted in the third quarter of last year and the Bank of Italy has forecast that fourth quarter data to be released on Thursday will show another fall in gross domestic product.

(Reporting By Silvia Ognibene, writing by Gavin Jones)