German finance ministry 'expects ECB rates to rise'

Experts at the German finance ministry expect the European Central Bank to raise key interest rates soon due to the economy picking up, a German news weekly said on Sunday, citing an internal document. With the eurozone debt crisis increasingly fading and an improving economy, "an active contribution to the overcoming of the low interest policy is to be expected" from the ECB, Spiegel quoted the ministry document as saying. That will lead to Germany having to pay more for its loans in a year's time than it currently does, according to the experts at Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble's ministry. The ECB has held its key interest rates at an all-time low of 0.25 percent since November and analysts do not expect a cut by the Frankfurt-based bank at its meeting this week.