Fri Apr 26, 2013 6:44am EDT
* Germany's top court looks into bailout and bond-buying
* Bundesbank warns court on ECB role in paper from late 2012
* Merkel rate comments didn't question ECB role, aide says
BERLIN, April 26 (Reuters) - The German government is confident the Constitutional Court will confirm an earlier ruling okaying the euro zone rescue mechanism after a June hearing to consider the bailouts and the European Central Bank's action, the finance ministry said on Friday.
The Bundesbank, a stern opponent of ECB's plans to purchase debt of struggling euro zone cases, sent a 29-page report to the court in December, which was published in a German newspaper on Friday, outlining the dangers of the plan.
"The government ... is confident the Constitutional Court will completely confirm its decision from September 12, 2012, which was made on the basis of an extensive oral hearing and on the basis of which Germany was able to legally agree to the ESM (European Stability Mechanism)," the ministry spokesman said.
He did not go into detail about how the court might view the ECB's bond-buying plans, which it will also consider in the public hearing on June 11-12 before giving its final verdict.
The Bundesbank report warns that the ECB's purchase of such debt could "compromise the independence of the central bank" and be difficult to stop. The paper is dated Dec. 21, 2012, when the euro zone crisis was in more acute phase than it is now.
In September's preliminary ruling, which gave the green light for Germany to ratify Europe's new permanent bailout fund, the court in Karlsruhe also said it would look at the ECB's role in the rescue when it delivers its final verdict.
Government spokesman Steffen Seibert said Chancellor Angela Merkel had not intended to infringe on the ECB's independence by remarking on Thursday that, if the central bank were to look at Germany alone, it would actually have to raise interest rates.
"There is no reason to assume that the chancellor meant to give any kind of warning or suggestion to the ECB in her speech," Seibert told a regular news conference, adding her comments fully respected the independence of the ECB.
Seibert said the bankers listening to Merkel in Dresden had voiced a hope that the period of low interest rates would come to an end and she had simply explained to them that the ECB must address the needs of very divergent economies.
It is unusual for a head of government to comment on monetary policy. Merkel's statement came as the ECB's appears to be closer to lowering interest rates than at any time since it last cut them in July 2012.
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