Former ECB chief Duisenberg found dead

THE former head of the European Central Bank Wim Duisenberg, who helped create the euro, was found dead near Orange in the south of France, French police said yesterday.

Dutchman Duisenberg, 70, was the first president of the European Central Bank in 1998 and stepped down early in October 2003 to allow Frenchman Jean-Claude Trichet to succeed him.

He lived in Amsterdam and had a home near Avignon in southern France. No details of the circumstances of his death were immediately available. Police said they would issue a statement later yesterday.

A big-framed man with a shock of white hair, steely blue eyes and a blunt speaking style, Mr Duisenberg earned respect in financial markets for his directness and slowly built up the ECB’s reputation for establishing a credible currency.

He led the new central bank through its rough first years, when leaders from the 12 eurozone countries still chafed at handing control over interest rates and exchange rates to the Frankfurt-based ECB.

Mr Duisenberg often liked to recount how he was summoned to meet one eurozone leader and, after a long lecture on why the ECB should cut interest rates, Mr Duisenberg said he replied: “I listen but I do not hear.”

He was born July 9, 1935, in Heerenven, the Netherlands. He studied economics and was a university professor before becoming involved in international economics organisations.