ECB's Simkus sees equal chance of rate hike or cut

VILNIUS, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is equally likely to raise or cut interest rates but it is hard to know when any such move will take place given the prevailing uncertainty about trade and geopolitics, ECB policymaker Gediminas Šimkus said on Monday.

"The probabilities that the next rate decision would be a hike or a lowering are the same - it's 50/50," the Lithuanian governor told reporters. "But no-one knows when that decision comes."