European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg said today that the bank would keep interest rates on hold for now despite cuts in US rates.
"It is of course true that (US rates) have been lowered and we have stayed put for the time being. It will remain that way. We are waiting very much for further signals on economic development before coming to yet another way (on rates)", he said, speaking before the European Parliament's Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee.
He said the ECB had kept the bank's main interest rates unchanged in recent months because recent developments had pointed towards more balanced risks to price stability.
However, some factors still argue for caution, he said.
Mr Duisenberg's statement reinforced the ECB's message last Thursday when it kept its key minimum bid rate unchanged at 4.75 percent and sought to stamp out market speculation that it was leaning towards a cut later in March or in April.
The US Federal Reserve has moved to counter a slowdown in the U.S. economy by twice cutting interest rates by half a point this year. The ECB's minimum bid rate has been at 4.75 percent since last October following seven consecutive rate hikes.
Mr Duisenberg defended the current levels of rates in the euro area, saying: Interest rates in Europe are lower than in the US, growth is higher now, finally, than it is in the US.