ECB should keep policy loose or ease further - IMF chief

International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde speaks during a news conference at a hotel in Cocody, Abidjan January 8, 2013.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The European Central Bank should keep monetary policy easy and perhaps try to lower borrowing costs further to help the euro zone's struggling economy, the head of the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday.

"Continued if not further monetary easing will be appropriate in order to sustain demand," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told a news conference.

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)