Brussels, 22/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - Pressure in favour of cutting European Central Bank (ECB) rates increased on Tuesday after the decision by the central bank of Sweden (Riksbanken) to cut its key rate by 50 basic points to 1.5% because of doubts about growth. Germany's minister for the economy, Wolfgang Clement, seized this opportunity to call indirectly on the European Central Bank to follow the movement. In a press release, he states that the fall in rates in Sweden shows it is currently possible for European central banks to support economic policy without threatening the price stability objective.
The ECB's independence and transparency cannot be brought into question, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet explained earlier, rejecting the hypothesis of greater intervention by finance ministers of the euro zone in discussions on rates. During the annual Bundesbank conference in Berlin, Mr Trichet nonetheless admitted that there could be improvements to the way the Eurogroup works. Last week at the European Parliament, the president of the European Council and of the Eurogroup, Jean-Claude Juncker, expressed regret that the debate between Member States on external representation of the euro zone had not had a result. He had also hoped that the Eurogroup would be able to begin a “virtuous debate” with the ECB on monetary policy (EUROPE 8969). Combating global imbalance is a necessity for each major economic zone, Mr Trichet restated on Tuesday, calling on the United States to increase savings, on the EU and Japan to pursue structural reform, and on Asian countries to “accept a new ordered alignment of their currencies”.