ECB Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen wants European Central Bank policymakers to show unity when dealing with the public, according to a newspaper report released on Saturday.

In an advance copy of comments to be published on Sunday, Asmussen, who joined the ECB at the start of the year, was quoted as saying that the banks' top officials should display a united front.

The Executive Board must be a team, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper quoted Germany's former deputy finance minister as saying. It must show cohesion externally.

The ECB's six-member Executive Board and larger Governing Council decide on interest rates and other monetary issues for the countries that share the euro.

Asmussen, who has labeled himself a monetary policy pragmatist, replaced former arch-hawk Juergen Stark who quit the bank over his opposition to the bank's bond purchases.

(Reporting by Brian Rohan; editing by Ron Askew)

Germany European union European central bank