FRANKFURT (AFX) - EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner Pedro Solbes said he supports German Finance Minister Hans Eichel's refusal to introduce measures to stimulate the ailing domestic economy. Speaking in an interview with Handelsblatt, Solbes said this fiscal rectitude gives the European Central Bank more room to cut interest rates. "With high deficits it will be very difficult for the ECB to cut rates again," he said. "We cannot approve programmes to stimulate the economy which increase budget deficits," he added. Earlier this month Eichel rejected calls from Germany's six leading economic institutes to bring forward the country's tax reform by a year. Solbes said EU nations should not copy the massive tax cuts employed by the US government to boost its economy. The US can finance fiscal relaxation with budget surpluses, but EU states do not share this luxury, Solbes said. Solbes said Germany's budget deficit this year will not exceed the 3 pct upper limit set out in the stability and growth pact, but he is nonetheless concerned about the continued weakness of the German economy. "German growth rates have been lower than the EU average for years," he said.