German Economy and Labour Minister Mr Wolfgang Clement said this afternoon that Germany could benefit from a further cut in euro-zone interest rates.
But Clement acknowledged that the European Central Bank made its monetary policy decisions on considerations for the 12-nation euro area as a whole, rather than on the situation of just one country.
"A rate cut would be good for Germany, but developments in price stability vary from country to country within Europe. And the ECB must look at the European landscape as a whole" when setting interest rates, he said.
The ECB decided this afternoon that the current level of borrowing costs in the single currency area was appropriate to safeguard price stability in the medium term, despite persistently sluggish growth in the region.
Indeed, the ECB argued that cutting rates in the current environment could actually prove ineffective given the uncertainty about the situation in Iraq and oil prices.
AFP