Business life: My finance news blog

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said she hopes a change of tone at the European Central Bank that indicates it may consider cutting interest rates will be followed with action.

“When you hear the opening notes of a symphony, you are always waiting for what comes after,'' Lagarde said in Tokyo today where she is attending a meeting of officials from the Group of Seven nations.

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet this week dropped a threat to raise rates after reports showed Europe is being infected by the U.S. slowdown. The region's service industries grew at the slowest pace in more than four years in January, and consumer and executive confidence fell to a two-year low.

Lagarde described a French television report that she may quit the government as “rubbish.''

BFM television reported yesterday, without saying where it got the information, that Lagarde may resign after local elections in March. BFM said she prepared a resignation letter two days ago because of disagreements with French President Nicolas Sarkozy over budget and industrial policy.

“I'm working hard to defend the principles and ideas and proposals of my president and there is not the slightest difference between his views and mine,'' she said.

Paulson Meeting

Lagarde met with U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in Tokyo today before the G-7 meeting payday advances cash advance loans.

“He's concerned and we're concerned'' about the global economy, she said, while adding that Paulson told her the U.S. hasn't encouraged other economies to increase government spending to boost economic growth.

“He didn't use the word `recession' but he's clearly worried about the real-estate market,'' Lagarde said.

U.S. Treasury Undersecretary David McCormick last week urged the G-7 to “take prudent steps'' to shore up growth. German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said yesterday that he has no plans for a fiscal stimulus package.

Lagarde also commented on the stronger euro, saying it “continues to pose difficulties for European exporters.'' The currency has gained 11.5 percent against the dollar in the past year.

While Lagarde after the G7 meeting today said Europeans were “sensitive'' to the ECB's change of tone, divisions within the 15-country sharing the currency about the euro's value resurfaced after having been toned down in past weeks.

“I'm not concerned about the strong euro,'' Germany's Steinbrueck told reporters in Tokyo.

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