dan24 ha scritto:
ORDINI MANIFATTURA GERMANIA -1,5% ATTESE A +0,2%
STANNO ANDANDO ALAL GRANDE TUTTO OK
hanno rivisto al rialzo quelli di dicembre
UPDATE: EU Business Lobby Says Euro Above $1.50 Is "Alarming"
Thu, Mar 6 2008, 11:19 GMT
http://www.djnewswires.com/eu
UPDATE: EU Business Lobby Says Euro Above $1.50 Is "Alarming"
(adds further details)
BRUSSELS -(Dow Jones)- The euro's new highs against the U.S. dollar signal more pain for European businesses, Europe's biggest business lobby said Thursday.
"We said when the euro was above $1.40 that we feel the pain. When the euro is above $1.50, it is alarming," Ernest-Antoine Seilliere, president of BusinessEurope, told a news briefing.
He added, however, that the weak dollar has some advantages, noting that raw materials such as oil and gas are priced in dollars and are relatively less expensive for European buyers.
With an eye on the European Central Bank's imminent interest rate decision, Seilliere said high interest rates are also a concern for business.
"If interest rates are lower, it would be positive, that's obvious," he said.
He noted, however, that businesses are still worried about inflation, which was running at 3.2% in February for the second successive month, which was why the ECB has held interest rates at 4% since last June.
The lobby group president called for more political pressure on the euro exchange rate."There is an imbalance between the power of the central bank and the political institutions of Europe," he complained.
European political leaders "must open a discussion between the major actors in the global economy... otherwise you will see the euro at $1.80," he warned.
Seilliere noted that recent meetings between the group of seven leading industrialised nation haven't dealt sufficiently with the euro's exchange rate against the dollar.
The comments echoed those by the head of International Monetary Fund on Monday, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who said that the problem of an overvalued euro was compounded by the lack of a political counterweight at the ECB.
-By Adam Cohen and Carolyn Henson, Dow Jones Newswires; +32 2 741 1484;
[email protected]
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 06, 2008 06:19 ET (11:19 GMT)