A downbeat assessment of eurozone growth prospects and a surprisingly open admission that Europeans needed to step up their spending habits accompanied the change of tone on a possible interest rate cut by Jean-Claude Trichet, European Central Bank president, on Thursday.

Mr Trichet said that eurozone growth, hit by high oil prices, displayed “only moderate dynamics”. Recent data had “heightened the uncertainties” about domestic demand. At the same time, underlying inflationary pressures were expected “to remain contained in the medium term,” he said after a governing council meeting.