European Central Bank Chief Economist Otmar Issing said in an interview published on Monday that a recovery in the euro zone requires a pickup in consumer spending. "Sustainable strong euro zone growth is scarcely imaginable without a clear recovery in consumption," Issing told the Austrian weekly news magazine Profil. Issing also said that ECB interest rates, currently at a record low of 2 percent, are appropriate and inflation should fall below the ECB's ceiling this year and next.///