The European Central Bank has no plans to implement a series of interest rates rises, Jean-Claude Trichet, ECB president, said on Monday as he sought to head off political criticism of the ECB’s decision to start monetary tightening.

The ECB is expected to raise rates in December for the first time in more than two years. But addressing a European parliament committee, Mr Trichet made clear that the ECB did not see itself at this stage following the US Federal Reserve in making a series of interest rate increases over many months.