ECB doing good job in balancing needs of euro zone members - Schaeuble

BERLIN (Reuters) - The European Central Bank (ECB) is doing a good job in pursuing a monetary policy that meets the needs of the euro zone's 19 member countries that each have their own requirements, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Tuesday.

In rare praise of the central bank, Schaeuble added that rising inflation in the single currency bloc, which hit 2 percent in February, was a sign that the euro zone economy was picking up.

"The inflation numbers did not surprise me. The development indicates that the economic recovery in Europe continues," Schaeuble told foreign journalists at the Finance Ministry.

Schaeuble has often said he would prefer the ECB to start unwinding its expansionary policy.

The ECB, which holds a policy meeting on Thursday, is not likely to signal a shift away from its ultra-easy monetary until the latter part of this year or early 2018, a Reuters poll found last week.

(Reporting by Joseph Nasr and Michael Nienaber; Editing by Michelle Martin)