Spain hits at ECB's Trichet over rates comments

By Jason Webb

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Saturday blamed the European Central Bank for Friday's jump in the oil price and some market interest rates and said ECB president Jean Claude Trichet should be "more prudent" in his comments about interest rates.

"I would recommend a bit more prudence to Mr. Trichet," Zapatero said in the city of Leon, referring to Trichet's remarks on Thursday suggesting a possible rise in interest rates next month.

"We all respect the independence of the European Central Bank but we all expect the European Central Bank to behave responsibly," Zapatero said, in remarks broadcast on Spanish media.

Trichet surprised markets on Thursday by saying there could be a rise in eurozone interest rates next month to contain inflation.

"I don't say it's certain. I say it's possible," Trichet said after an ECB policy meeting which left its key interest rate unchanged at 4.0 percent.

Zapatero, whose country's economy is facing a steep construction slowdown just as inflation is rising, noted that Trichet's remarks were followed by "a fresh rise in Euribor and also a rise in oil, surely exaggerated."

The Euribor rate is a key determinant of Spanish mortgage rates.

Zapatero's comments were unusually blunt criticism by a leading European politician of the ECB, which fiercely defends its independence.