FRANKFURT (AFX) - Bundesbank president Ernst Welteke said last week's European Central Bank rate cut decision showed the ECB's independence in the face of pressure from some finance ministers. In his speech in Hamburg to bid farewell to the outgoing president of Hamburg's state central bank, Welteke said when the ECB makes its decision on interest rates and other conditions that are uniformly applicable in the euro area, it is "independent from political suggestions".
"It uses its independence, as was shown last week, when it resisted the pressure of some finance ministers from European neighbouring states," Welteke said.
"In the decisions of the ECB Governing Council, national or regional factors do not play a role -- they must not play a role at all," he said, adding: "What matters is the perspectives of the whole euro zone."
He said the ECB Governing Council last Thursday cut the key rates by 25 basis points "autonomously", based on its strategies.