European Central Bank President Wim Duisenburg faced a storm of criticism this week after he indicated that governments would not intervene to prop up the euro if the Middle East crisis sparked fresh falls in the value of the currency.

Date: 19/10/00

Duisenburg sparked the row after openly discussing the conditions for future intervention in a newspaper interview. His comments threw financial markets into confusion and prompted a further drop in the euro. Meanwhile, Economics Commissioner Pedro Solbes said this week there is no chance of inflation in the euro zone averaging 1.8% in 2000, as he forecast in March, and it was now likely to be just over 2%.