ECB rate cut not enough to boost economy: Lagarde

PARIS (Reuters) - The European Central Bank's 50-basis-point rate cut on Thursday will not be enough to boost the economy and a similar cut will probably come before year-end, said French Economy Minister Christine Lagarde.

Asked on French television if she thought Thursday's move would be sufficient to revive the economy, Lagarde said: "Clearly not."

The 50 basis point cut was the second such lowering of rates by the ECB in less than a month. The Bank of England cut its rates by 150 basis points on Thursday.

"It's not sufficient," Lagarde told France 3 television. "We will probably have a similar move before the end of the year," she added.

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet has not ruled out further easing at the bank's next meeting in December and financial markets are pricing in a rate cut of 50 basis points, which would take benchmark rates down to 2.75 percent.

Earlier in the day, France slashed its forecasts for economic growth and inflation next year and conceded it would overshoot the European Union's deficit limit, bringing its economic outlook closer to with market expectations.

In a widely anticipated move, Lagarde said the euro zone's second-biggest economy would grow by between 0.2 percent and 0.5 percent in 2009, against the previous 1 percent forecast.

Lagarde also lowered the 2010 forecast, saying it would hit 2 percent and not the 2.5 percent seen earlier.

(Reporting by Jean-Baptiste Vey; writing by Crispian Balmer; editing by Gary Crosse)