January 26, 2008	Saturday	Muharram 16, 1429

FRANKFURT, Jan 25: The European Central Bank (ECB) was right to keep interest rates unchanged despite a sharp cut by the US Federal Reserve, German Economy Minister Michael Glos said on Friday.

“There are fears of a recession in the United States, which contributed in large part to current turmoil on financial markets. The situation is different in the eurozone,” Glos told the daily Muenchner Merkur in an interview.

In addition, the ECB has a “clear mandate, oriented above all towards price stability,” the economy minister added.

“I feel that given the context, the ECB’s reaction up till now has been intelligent and appropriate. I have full trust that it will continue” to be the case, Glos said.

German central bank governor Axel Weber, who sits on the ECB governing council, said in an interview to appear Saturday that the bank was as determined as ever to keep inflation in check.

Weber targeted in particular strong wage demands in several sectors of the eurozone economy.

“If states support these demands, and salary accords which damage price stability are concluded, it could force monetary authorities to act,” he told the financial daily Boersen-Zeitung. —AFP