Austria Fekter Says ECB Shouldn't Be Modeled on Fed, BoE

Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter said the European Central Bank shouldn’t be modeled on the U.S. Federal Reserve or on the Bank of England.

The ECB should continue to focus on maintaining price stability, Fekter told lawmakers in Vienna today, according to a statement from Austria’s Parliament. At the same time it was pragmatic of the ECB to extend its scope to avoid major contagion in the markets, she said.

Fekter also argued for a continuation of a hard currency policy, according to the statement.“We only replaced the strong schilling against a strong euro -- we don’t want a weak currency,” she said.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Zoe Schneeweiss at zschneeweiss@bloomberg.net