20000212

ECB will do 'nothing directly' to help out ailing euro

MUNICH: European Central Bank (ECB) president Wim Duisenberg said in an interview that the bank will do "nothing directly" to halt the fall of the euro, insisting that the currency will rise without intervention.

Speaking to Friday's edition of the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, Duisenberg said the decline in the euro, which has seen the single currency slip below parity with the dollar in recent weeks, has affected the image of the ECB.

"But if you're asking me what I am doing against the exchange rate weakness, the answer is, nothing directly." "We cannot and should not try to influence the exchange rate level directly," he said.ÑAFP