Interest rate cuts not an issue

EUROPEAN Central Bank council member Ernst Welteke said further cuts in interest rates aren’t an issue after the bank pared borrowing costs earlier this month.

>“In the last half year we have reduced interest rates by 125 basis points and now we have the lowest interest rates in 50 years,” Mr Welteke said in an interview with Deutsche Welle TV. “Monetary policy is not an issue that should be addressed in this situation.”

He added that there are no signs of an economic improvement in the dozen nations sharing the euro because “we’re currently dealing with a confidence crisis”, DW TV reported.