Duisenberg paves way for cut in rates this week

Article reports on the appearance of Wim Duisenberg, President of the European Central Bank, before the European Parliament's Monetary Affairs Committee on 3 December 2002. In his remarks Mr Duisenberg hinted that the European Central Bank would ease its monetary stance and cut interest rates on 5 December 2002. The likelihood of a cut has been increased by recent moves to shore up the Stability and Growth Pact and Mr Duisenberg welcomed the European Commission's plans to reform the pact to make it more flexible for countries with sound public finances and tougher on those with high debt.

http://europarl.europa.eu/omk/sipade2?PUBREF=-//EP//TEXT+PRESS+NR-20021203-1+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&LEVEL=2&NAV=S#SECTION1 http://europarl.europa.eu/omk/sipade2?PUBREF=-//EP//TEXT+PRESS+NR-20021203-1+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&LEVEL=2&NAV=S#SECTION1

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