They took their time and, even at the last, the signals were so confused and the history of their actions so erratic that no one knew whether the European Central Bank would cut rates this week.

Refreshed from their summer holidays and having had time to consider the scale of the global downturn and its likely impact on inflation in the euro zone, President Wim Duisenberg and his governing could shave a quarter point off rates.

In itself it is unlikely to do much to alter the economic trend and, if anything, it is the bank's next move that will be more important than its eventual concession of the need to cut rates at all. The markets are looking for consistency, a feature that has been sadly lacking at the bank until now.

As the bank presented its new coins and bank notes to great fanfare, Mr Duisenberg and his team should remember that it is very hard to talk a fledgling currency up but not hard at all to talk it down.