ECB economist hints at cut in interest rates

EUROPEAN Central Bank (ECB) economist Otmar Issing has appeared to raise prospects of a cut in European interest rates for the first time since June 2003.

Asked by Der Spiegel magazine if market expectations of a cut were right he said: “in the past, financial markets almost always anticipated ECB policy decisions correctly.”

In effect, Mr Issing is believed to have implied that the markets, which have started to anticipate a cut by the ECB, were on the right track.