European Central Bank president Mr Wim Duisenberg reiterated today that ensuring price stability was the bank's main goal and that the ECB kept scrutinising economic developments for signs of easing price pressures.
Mr Duisenberg also reinforced the bank's wait-and-see stance on interest rates and said the bank continued to monitor euro zone wages for signs of second-round effects of past strong increases of oil prices.
"The securing of price stability is the main goal which is often overlooked, particularly in recent days," Mr Duisenberg said, speaking at a banking conference.
He said the ECB was assessing whether price risks were abating amid economic uncertainty, and noted price risks were lessening due to a slowdown in M3 money supply growth and possibly also due to slower economic growth in the euro area.
"The domestic price pressures can slow down as result of slower growth...but because of second round price risks on the back of past oil price increases, the ECB will watch wage increases very carefully," Mr Duisenberg said.