FRANKFURT, Germany Even though inflation is lessening in the euro zone, concerns remained over price pressures, the European Central Bank's Chief economist, Otmar Issing, said in an interview in Wednesday's ****Boersen Zeitung****newspaper.

There were "still risks" on the inflation front, Issing told the German daily, in what was seen as an explanation for the ECB's decision last week to keep interest rates steady at 4.5 percent despite a European economic slowdown.

The ECB has set itself a goal of getting inflation in the 12-nation euro zone, currently at 3.0 percent, under two percent.

Some market watchers and economists are hopeful that the ECB could step in and give the ailing euro zone economy a boost when it meets on August 30 or September 13, when it could cut rates by up to half a point, AFP reported.

On the tenure of ECB President Wim Duisenberg, Issing told the newspaper that the Dutchman had the "unanimous support" of the Central Bank's Council of Governors.

That was in reference to ongoing speculation by some EU countries, particularly France, that Duisenberg would step aside to make way for another official.

When the ECB was created, Paris finally backed Duisenberg but said it did so with the expectation French Central Bank Governor Claude Trichet would take over next year.

No explicit deal has ever been made, but the uncertainty has dogged the ECB's attempts to assert its independence from EU governments and politicians.