Bundesbank President Ernst Welteke came under fresh attacks on Friday from lawmakers in Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's ruling coalition over his luxury hotel bill scandal and for resisting government calls to resign.
The Finance Ministry also strengthened its appeal to Welteke to quit after damaging the central bank's image for letting a commercial bank pay his 7,661 euro ($9,437) hotel bill for a family holiday in Berlin after attending a bank event in 2002.
Christine Scheel, head of the parliament's financial policy committee, and Andrea Nahles, a leftist leader in Schroeder's Social Democrats, were quoted in Focus magazine lambasting Welteke for clinging to his job despite calls to step down.
Earlier this week Welteke reimbursed the bank for half the bill himself and the Bundesbank paid the other half. Welteke also said he was "deeply sorry" for creating the impression that he was not living up to the highest ethical standards.
Scheel, a Greens member, said Welteke's efforts to justify why Dresdner Bank paid his bill were "tasteless and embarrassing".
"The head of the German Bundesbank does not need to be kept by a private bank," Scheel added. Welteke, who earns 350,000 euros per year, is Germany's top-paid public servant.
The central bank in Frankfurt, which oversees Dresdner Bank and other commercial banks, said on Wednesday that Welteke would take a leave of absence pending an investigation by public prosecutors. It said it saw no grounds for his dismissal.
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