European Central Bank firm on lending rate

LONDON, May 19 (UPI) -- The European Central Bank will stick to its guns and not reduce interest rates soon, the head of the bank said Monday.

During a BBC interview, bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said Europe was experiencing "an ongoing, very serious market correction."

But, he also said cutting bank lending rates could trigger even more serious problems, the BBC reported.

Rising prices "will not last forever," he said, adding that fighting unemployment was the "legacy" of the 1970s.

The failure of banks to adopt tighter financial policies in the 1970s lead to higher wages, which then led to mass unemployment, Trichet said.