Wim Duisenberg pledges to stay on at ECB

European Central Bank president Wim Duisenberg has indicated he won't step down for at least a year.

He says it would be unwise to appoint a new ECB boss within the next 12 months.

Mr Duisenberg was appointed the first-ever ECB president in mid-1998.

But, given his age, he indicated at the time he was unlikely to serve his full eight-year term.

France has said an agreement was struck whereby Mr Duisenberg, who is Dutch, would hand over after about four years to a French candidate.

That would mean he would leave next spring.

But Mr Duisenberg has refused to speculate any further about the timing of his departure.