But a European banker said the agreement was "pretty much concluded."

As events turned out, the European bankers reduced rates more than expected.

To be fair, the European central bankers are expected to lower rates in June at their next meeting.

"We have heard there are offers from five or six banks," a European banker said.

European bankers mostly deny that political considerations played a role.

That was more or less how the dominant European bankers of the nineteen-thirties saw themselves.

"The program is an impressive success," a European banker here said.

But the European bankers face more than bad luck.

European central bankers have cut interest rates to spark growth.

European bankers and governments, to whom most of the money is owed, opposed that idea.