Tietmeyer bows out to chorus of appreciation

Germany's financial world bade farewell yesterday to Bundesbank president Mr Hans Tietmeyer, one of Europe's fiercest defenders of currency stability who helped to persuade his sceptical compatriots to exchange their beloved deutschmark for the untried euro.

Mr Tietmeyer bowed out after six years at the helm of Germany's central bank, just two days before his 68th birthday, to a chorus of praise from politicians and central bankers alike.

Mr Alan Greenspan, head of the US Federal Reserve, sent a simple message saying "Good luck, Hans", while Mr Wim Duisenberg, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), was rapturous.

"Following a speech by Hans Tietmeyer is like following a sermon from the Pope," he said.

The comparison is an apt one, not only because Mr Tietmeyer is a former theology student and a devout Catholic, but on account of his absolute adherence to the orthodoxy of sound money. This approach to central banking, which made Mr Tietmeyer unpopular with politicians both at home and abroad, has become the norm in Europe and informs the decision-making of the ECB.

"In the end, the central task of the Bundesbank and its president is to ensure that our money is secure," he said when he took office.

Judged on this criterion, his term has been an unqualified success, with German inflation falling from more than 4 per cent in 1993 to less than 1 per cent today. And the euro has a good chance of establishing itself as a stable currency, not least on account of Mr Tietmeyer's efforts.

"All evil is born of cowardice," is a saying of Confucius that the central banker likes to quote and his most vociferous detractors acknowledge that Mr Tietmeyer has never lacked courage.

When his political patron, Dr Helmut Kohl, complained that the Bundesbank's tight money policy was creating difficulties with France, Mr Tietmeyer held firm. And he faced down the former finance minister, Mr Theo Waigel, last year over an attempt to plug a hole in the federal budget by revaluing Germany's gold reserves.

But currency stability offers little comfort to Germany's four million unemployed, many of whom believe that they would still have work if Mr Tietmeyer had taken a more flexible approach during the mid-1990s. His tough talk in advance of the euro's launch cast doubt on his commitment to the project and prompted the former chancellor, Mr Helmut Schmidt, to denounce the central banker as the most significant opponent of currency union.

Mr Tietmeyer hands over to Mr Welteke, a lifelong Social Democrat who has been president of the central bank in the state of Hesse since 1995. A self-made man who studied economics at night while working as a mechanic, Mr Welteke's easy-going, sunny personality is in stark contrast to his predecessor's steely austerity.

The new Bundesbank president enjoys a warm friendship with Germany's Finance Minister, Mr Hans Eichel, who was prime minister of Hesse until he replaced Mr Oskar Lafontaine earlier this year.

As the last guardian of the deutschmark, which will disappear along with the other national currencies in the euro zone on January 1st, 2002, Mr Welteke will preside over a drastic reduction in the size of the Bundesbank, as it hands over most of its functions to the ECB.

The new Bundesbank president will be just one voice among 17 on the Governing Council of the ECB but as the representative of Europe's biggest economy, he remains a powerful player on the international financial stage.