	poehl looks set for eight more years at bundesbank for currency dealers karl otto poehl is the scourge of speculators for bankers he is the man who has played a key role in shaping the world s financial destiny for the last seven years and for germans he is the guardian of the mark president of the powerful and independent west german central bank the bundesbank poehl is likely to have his contract renewed for another eight years when it expires at the end of this year government officials say index of economic spotlights see page ecra but no official announcement has yet been made raising eyebrows in west germany s business community the ebullient poehl spent seven years in bonn in top ministerial posts under the social democrats now in opposition before he moved to the bundesbank there has been speculation that chancellor helmut kohl would try to replace poehl with a man closer to his own christian democrats but officials noted that poehl has worked closely and successfully with finance minister gerhard stoltenberg since kohl s government took office in poehl the most senior central banker apart from paul volcker of the united states enjoys a strong international reputation which it would take a newcomer years to build up given these circumstances kohl will probably overlook poehl s past as an adviser to former social democrat chancellor willy brandt and top aide to helmut schmidt when he was finance minister bankers said it was schmidt who as chancellor appointed poehl to his present job in in recent months with the mark s strong rise against the dollar poehl has made exchange rates the central concern of the bundesbank s council a highly conservative institution which has doggedly pursued monetary policies to prevent inflation catching hold older germans can remember two bouts of galloping inflation this century but with consumer prices falling for much of and inflation negligible so far this year poehl thinks it is safe to relax the monetary reins a little and concentrate on the dangers to the german economy of a bloated exchange rate i am of the opinion that efforts to stabilise the dollar mark rate have reached a high priority also for the bundesbank because a further massive revaluation of the mark would endanger the economy in west germany he told business journalists in frankfurt recently ute geipel head of research at citibank ag says that poehl s reappointment would guarantee flexible monetary policy poehl s policy has always been a policy which does not focus so rigidly on domestic factors but also on the external economy she said an economist at a german bank who declined to be identified said if poehl is confirmed in his post it will certainly be a plus for the pragmatic course which is not so rigidly oriented towards money supply one of poehl s great struggles recently has been to persuade the united states to stop talking down the dollar for poehl the significance of the february louvre accord was that the united states agreed to join efforts to stabilise currencies the louvre accord was greeted with scepticism by currency dealers who said they would soon put it to the test but in fact the dollar has been relatively stable since the pact this is because the markets know or perhaps because they don t know what the central banks can do poehl says of intervention in currency markets which can quickly turn rates round making a speculator s position worthless poehl was born in and worked as a financial journalist in the s before starting his ministerial career a relaxed sun tanned figure who enjoys cracking jokes over a glass of beer he is hardly a stereotype central banker he is also a keen sportsman who likes to watch football and play golf poehl says currency market intervention cannot substitute for correct economic policies if exchange rates are imbalanced but you can achieve an enormous effect with a small amount if you strike at the right moment he said bundesbank dealers are very professional and skilled they ve burnt the fingers of many people he said and unlike the speculators poehl notes the bundesbank dealers usually make a profit reuter 
