European Central Bank (ECB) president Jean-Claude Trichet has said expectations of inflation in the euro zone are "excellently anchored".

Mr Trichet was speaking at a meeting of the European Policy Institute in London yesterday, after global stock markets experienced significant falls in share values prompted by fears for the US economy.

The ECB last week raised interest rates by one-quarter of a percentage point and several analysts have predicted at least one further rate rise this year.

While not providing a clear signal, Mr Trichet's remarks may imply that the ECB regards inflation as less of a threat than in the ECB's latest forecasts, produced before global falls in share prices last week and this week.

Mr Trichet said the ECB would continue to exercise its judgment on interest rates, free from political interference. "The level of our independence is very, very precise. We are not supposed to receive or ask for instruction," he said.

But comments in the latest quarterly report of the Dutch Central Bank suggest that pressure for higher rates persist.

"The policy of the ECB is still accommodative, considering historically low interest rates and the rapid growth of money supply and credit," it said yesterday, suggesting its governor Nout Wellink - who sits on the ECB's governing council - will argue for a further interest rate rise in June.