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Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, gave an interview last Friday to economics editor Paul Tanseyand journalists from three other leading European papers, 'Le Figaro', 'Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung' and 'Jornal de Negócios'. The interview, carried out in the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt, covered the bank's position on inflation, money policy and the appropriateness of its interest rate strategy. Mr Trichet also addressed the wider global credit crisis, the role played by hedge funds, and the fallout from Ireland's No vote on the Lisbon Treaty referendum. Below is a transcript of the interview.

Q Could you outline how you see the euro economy evolving over the short run and the implications for euro interest rates?