Brussels, 29/03/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided on Thursday to leave the level of its key rate unchanged at 4.75% (minimum bid rate applied to main refinancing operations). The interest rates of the marginal loan facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 5.75% and 3.75% respectively. This decision did not cause great surprise, and the euro remained in a weak position on Thursday morning, below $0.89, probably partly because of the announcement made early in the week of the 8-point leap in the confidence index of American consumers. Analysts remain divided over the impact that the ECB's firmness will have. Some attribute the weakness of the euro compared to the dollar to the ECB's "obstinacy" not to reduce its rates, as has already been done in the United States, England and even in Switzerland. Others question the lack of leadership of European authorities that would indirectly strengthen the "safe" nature of the dollar.
Statements by Jean Lemierre on (announced) departure of Wim Duisenberg
Jean Lemierre, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), said on several occasions this week when speaking to the Italian press (La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera) that Wim Duisenberg, ECB President, will indeed be ending his term of office mid-2002, after changeover to the euro, in accordance with the commitment taken at the time of his appointment, on the evening of 1 May 1998. In addition, he confirmed that the next ECB President would, as foreseen, be French national Jean-Claude Trichet.