"Europe May Follow Fed's Lead" -
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg hinted Monday he wanted to model his bank on the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Addressing the Council of Foreign Relations in Chicago, Duisenberg said the ECB was a young bank whose role would develop gradually.
''We will also build on the experience of those central banks which have played an important international role in the past,'' Duisenberg said.
''You may guess which central bank outside the euro area I have in mind in particular,'' he told his U.S. audience, according to a copy of the speech released in advance.
Duisenberg, whose ECB launched a common European currency, the euro, on Jan. 1 and began setting monetary policy for 11 European countries that day, said the ECB wouldn't try to challenge the dominance of the dollar as the international currency of choice.
That might happen on its own, Duisenberg warned.
''The possibility of the euro assuming a prominent role more rapidly than is perhaps suggested by past experience cannot be ruled out,'' he said.
The euro represents a currency bloc roughly equivalent to that of the United States, while it has a larger share of world exports and is second in terms of its capital market.
Challenges facing the euro bloc, where inflation is under control, include the recent economic crisis in Brazil and excessive wage demands in Europe, Duisenberg said.
The 11 countries in the euro bloc are Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands,
Portugal and Spain.
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