German Chancellor Angela Merkel strongly defended the European Central Bank's (ECB) independence in an interview published on Saturday, saying France's presidential candidates should stop blaming the bank for the country's woes and follow her reformist example instead.
"Frankly, this debate in France rather worries me," Merkel was quoted by the daily Le Monde as saying, referring to mounting French criticism of the ECB and the euro ahead of presidential elections in April and May.
"We must be careful that our difficulties -- adapting to globalization, carrying out reforms [and] resolving social problems -- aren't all piled on the euro's back," she said.
"If we want to preserve confidence in the euro, we must leave it outside political debate, leave the European Central Bank its independence. That is the very firm German position," she said, Le Monde reported.
France's top two presidential candidates, conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal, have criticized the bank's French head and said the ECB is too independent from political oversight. Germany and others strongly oppose any political interference in managing the currency.
The ECB is responsible for setting euro interest rates and has ordered a series of rises over the past year that some politicians warn could hurt European growth. They say the euro's strength is eroding Europe's competitive edge because it makes exports expensive, particularly to the US.
Merkel said that Germany's economy has weathered the strong euro because of painful reforms in recent years and said France would have no choice but to follow suit.
"I don't want to give advice to any country, but I think that on the whole, in the face of globalization, we cannot avoid this path," she was quoted as saying.
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