European Central Bank chief economist Otmar Issing said the ECB's monetary policy has been an undisputed success since the launch of the euro in 1999. "After 6-1/2 years the success of the ECB's monetary policy is beyond dispute," he said at a conference. "We have delivered on our mandate: price stability for the euro area. Medium to long-term inflation expectations have been firmly anchored at healthy levels," he said. The ECB's monetary policy has drawn strong criticism recently from Germany and Italy, which have argued that the central bank should do more to support growth. The central bank will therefore continue to rely on this assessment of M3 money supply growth, despite criticism that it gives too much weight to monetary developments, he said.