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The head of the OECD said Thursday he supported a decision by the European Central Bank to raise eurozone interest rates, insisting it would not affect growth.
"The question of the (financial) crisis and economic growth does not depend on a quarter of a point," Angel Gurria told the French television network France 24 after the ECB raised its benchmark rate from 4.00 to 4.25 percent to curb inflation.
He said growth instead depended on decisions that national institutions and leaders are prepared to take "in difficult areas such as the budget and economic and fiscal policy."
Gurria, who leads the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, said he was in "total agreement" with the ECB and its president, Jean-Claude Trichet, on the rate hike.
"It's good because it is a signal to the markets but also to economic players ... to say that 'in the area of monetary policy we're still there, we're vigilant, we're not going to let inflation control the situation.'"
Trichet in recent days has come under pressure from several European political leaders, notably the French president and the Spanish prime minister, who fear that tighter monetary policies from the ECB will snuff out already tepid eurozone growth,
Elsewhere in his interview Gurria said a global slowdown would likely last through 2009.
"Today, I would say that normalisation will return in 2010. The next 18 months will not be very good."
