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European Central Bank Governing Council member Ewald Nowotny said there is no need for the ECB to change borrowing costs any time soon.

“The current level'' of interest rates “is adequate to ensure price stability over the medium-term,'' Nowotny, who is also head of Austria's central bank, said in an interview today in Bratislava, Slovakia. “The ECB follows a steady-hand policy, this has proven itself.''

The ECB earlier this month kept its benchmark lending rate at a seven-year high of 4.25 percent to fight inflation even as the economy cools. While the ECB along with the world's largest central banks has pumped cash into money markets over the past week to ease a credit squeeze, Nowotny said that he doesn't see “any reason'' for Europe to adopt similar measures to the U.S.

The central banks sought to soothe money markets after last week's collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the U.S us fast cash easy payday loans. government's takeover of American International Group Inc. threatened to derail financial markets. That led to the unveiling of the U.S. government's $700 billion rescue plan to restore confidence.

“Europe can't be compared with the U.S. Our financial system is inherently more stable,'' said Nowotny, who joined the ECB governing council last month. “We have to remain cautious. It is to be hoped that the massive intervention by the U.S. government has a stabilizing effect.''

Nowotny today reiterated that the ECB has “no bias'' when it comes to interest rates. While it is a “realistic goal'' to expect inflation to fall below the ECB's 2 percent limit by 2010, the bank will monitor wage developments “with great alertness and some concern,'' he said.

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