No need for further rate cut talk for now: Bundesbank chief

Frankfurt (AFP) - Speculating about additional interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank makes no sense so soon after the surprise move earlier this month, Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann said on Wednesday.

Speaking to the weekly Die Zeit in an interview to be published on Thursday, Weidmann said: "The ECB's governing council has only just eased its monetary policy again. I don't think it makes sense to ring in the next round straight away."

As head of Germany's central bank, or Bundesbank, Weidmann sits on the ECB's policy-setting body, which wrong-footed markets earlier this month by shaving a further quarter of a percentage point off its central "refi" refinancing rate to a new all-time low of 0.25 percent.

The decision, which was not unanimous, came in response to expectations that the 17 countries sharing the euro face a period of very low inflation.

Weidmann insisted that the ECB could theoretically cut rates further.

"Technically, we are certainly not at the end of our possibilities," he said.

"The question is, however, what makes sense. The debate about further measures distracts from the actual causes of the crisis."