Bundesbank president Mr Ernst Welteke said today the time was not right for a cut in euro zone interest rates but the European Central Bank was closely watching the economic slowdown in the United States.
Mr Welteke, a member of the ECB's policy-making governing council, told CNN International in an interview: "We still feel it is not yet the time to cut interest rates."
ECB president Mr Wim Duisenberg repeated the central bank's wait-and-see stance at its regular news conference last week, dampening speculation of a rate cut sparked by rapid cuts in US rates.
Mr Welteke reinforced the message that rates were on hold. He said the central bank still needed to digest more data.
"The risks of inflation are coming down but we have to look at the new information since the start of the year," he said.
Reuters