The rate hike comments delivered Thursday by European Central Bank
President Jean-Claude Trichet were a "strong signal" to markets and the
general public that the current inflation picture is not "acceptable".
The message, he added, "seems to have been well understood."
Weber also said he expected eurozone HICP to stay above the 2% price
stability threshold "far into 2009." Global growth, he said, will
moderate but remain "resilient." Eurozone growth remains "on solid
fundamentals." The slowdown should hit its trough by the end of the
year, he said.