FIN: ECB Council watching euro closely, says Weidmann
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - European Central Bank policymakers will watch the euro's exchange rate closely before taking policy decisions, ECB policymaker Jens Weidmann said on Monday.
While stressing that the ECB does not have a foreign exchange rate target, Weidmann noted that the euro's value can affect price developments in the single currency bloc.
Weidmann, the chief of Germany's Bundesbank, also said a period of low inflation was likely to persist for some time.
"With monetary policy decisions, the European Central Governing Council will therefore watch further exchange rate developments very closely," Weidmann said in the text of a speech for delivery at a finance conference in Frankfurt.
He added, however, that it would be short-sighted to take a one-dimensional look at upward pressure on the exchange rate from investors buying euro zone sovereign bonds without looking at the stimulating effect of lower bond yields.
