Marko Kranjec, Slovenia's central bank governor, caught other European central banks off guard on Monday when he warned that shockwaves from the US subprime mortgage crisis could threaten consumer demand across the eurozone.

"If there is stronger turbulence, the demand of households could well be influenced negatively," Mr Kranjec, a member of the European Central Bank's governing council, told FT Deutschland, the Financial Times' sister paper.