ECB executive board member Stark resigns

FRANKFURT - A top European Central Bank (ECB) official on Monday publicly discussed the reasons for his surprise resignation, saying he is not satisfied with the direction that Europe's currency union has taken.

Juergen Stark said in an interview in Monday's edition of Germany's Wirtschaftswoche magazine that the ECB had done its job by keeping inflation under control across the eurozone, which it does through adjusting interest rates.

But he said some governments had tolerated excessive wage costs and unsustainable real estate booms that preceded today's debt crisis.