Austrian Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser said criticism of the European Central Bank by some euro zone countries is deflecting attention from Europe's real economic problems. "What is important is not that monetary policy and fiscal policy should be agreed more closely but that the financial policies of the individual countries themselves should be better coordinated," he said in an interview with the Financial Times Grasser, who is also deputy president of the euro group of euro zone finance ministers, said he sees no reason for a discussion on the ECB's price stability target, which the central bank defines as an inflation rate below but close to 2 pct He said the ECB has "to be stable, predictable and reliable" Grasser said governments should focus more on sorting out their budget problems "I have serious concerns about the development of public sector deficits. We should agree to balance by 2010 the overall budget of the euro zone governments," he said Grasser supported calls by UK Prime Minister Tony Blair for a rethink of Europe's social model "Europe can only be successful when built on liberalisation, privatisation and deregulation. It is highly questionable whether we can afford in future the welfare state in its current form," he said "The British rebate dates from a time when Great Britain had economic problems. Today Great Britain is one of the richest countries in the EU; so the basis for the rebate has disappeared," he said