ECB's policy stance appropriate, past critic says

[July 05, 2016]  FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The European Central Bank's current monetary policy stance is appropriate, Executive Board member Sabine Lautenschlaeger said on Tuesday, warning against excessive criticism of the bank from Germany, her home country.

European Central Bank (ECB) executive board member Sabine Lautenschlaeger delivers her keynote speech during the annual regulatory conference of Austrian markets watchdog FMA in Vienna September 30, 2014. REUTERS/Heinz-Peter Bader

"We can have differing opinions about individual measures and their effect," Lautenschlaeger, one of the ECB's toughest critics in the past told International Bankers Forum in an interview. "But the basic direction of monetary policy is currently appropriate and correct."

She added that monetary policy was succeeding because it was reducing financing costs and warned that harsh criticism of the ECB's stance before policy meetings could create an impression that the bank's independence is no longer valued.

Lautenschlaeger, though mostly focused on banking supervision, has criticized the ECB's monetary policy in the past, arguing against policy easing.

(Reporting by Balazs Koranyi; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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