Calls for Duisenberg to extend stay

THE European Central Bank cannot judge how an economy already wracked by war fears would react to fighting, ECB President Wim Duisenberg said on Monday signalling interest rates will stay on hold awhile longer.

And there were calls yesterday for European Central Bank president Wim Duisenberg to extend his stay beyond his planned retirement date in July because of controversy surrounding his successor.

Duisenberg, who will be 68 in July, is due to be succeeded by Bank of France governor Jean-Paul Trichet.