FRANKFURT, Oct 2, 2008 (AFP) - European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet said Thursday the ECB had considered a cut in interest rates amid an 'extraordinarily high level of uncertainty' on the financial markets.

'We have examined two options,' Trichet told a press conference in Frankfurt after the bank left its main lending rate unchanged at 4.25 percent.

'One, letting interest rates (be) unchanged, another one decreasing interest rates.'

'Our unanimous conclusion was that we were right in maintaining interest rates as they are but we examined the two options,' Trichet said.

'I would say that we are in a situation of exceptionally high level of uncertainty,' the ECB president added.

In London, the euro fell to a 13-month low against the dollar after Trichet expressed concern about eurozone growth and said inflationary pressures had diminished but not disappeared.

The single European currency fell to 1.3748 dollars, its lowest level since September 7, 2007,

An ECB statement read by Trichet said: 'The most recent data clearly confirm that economic activity in the euro area is weakening, with contracting domestic demand and tighter financing conditions.'

It said 'the economic outlook is subject to increased downside risks, mainly stemming from a scenario of ongoing financial market tensions affecting the real economy more adversely than currently foreseen.'

In light of weaker demand, inflationary pressures 'have diminished somewhat but they have not disappeared,' Trichet said.