FRANKFURT: The European Central Bank parted ways with the US Federal Reserve Thursday, keeping interest rates unchanged and giving no hint of any easing after the Fed launched a fresh round of costly stimulus measures. “Separate ways in the central bankers' brotherhood,” ING senior economist Carsten Brzeski said. “Just one day after the Fed launched a new round of quantitative easing (QE), the ECB stressed that it has no intention to follow,” he said. In London, the Bank of England maintained its main lending rate at 0.50 percent but it was less clear whether British officials were keeping their own QE option open. The Fed's decision to resume massive stimulus spending not seen since the depths of the 2007-09 economic crisis helped push the euro above 1.42 dollars but that did not appear to bother ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet. He pointed during a press conference to past remarks by US officials that a strong dollar was in the US interest and said there was no indication they were now “playing the strategy or tactics of the weak dollar.” Brzeski remarked that “Trichet seems to be one of the few people (maybe the only one) in the world to still believe in the US administration's strong dollar policy.” As for the possibility of extending the exceptional measures put in place to ease pressure on bank lending across the 16-nation eurozone, Trichet declined to comment, pointing to his next rendezvous with media in December. In particular, the ECB is not pleased that potential sanctions would not be automatic but instead subject to influence by political leaders. – Agence France
