European Central Bank President Jean- Claude Trichet and his counterparts in the Group of 10 may say today that a rapid decline in the dollar remains a risk to world economic growth.

``The dollar will continue to be in the focus of central bankers, especially now that oil prices have slightly eased,'' said Janwillem Acket, chief economist at Julius Baer Holding AG in Zurich. ``The Europeans, along with the Japanese, will continue to argue for a stronger dollar.''

The U.S. currency's drop to a record against the euro, and to near a five-year low against the yen, threatens to undermine export-led recoveries in Europe and Japan, the world's second-and third-largest economies.

Trichet currently chairs the G-10 discussions, held every two months under the auspices of the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, which serves the world's central banks. The ECB president said after the group's Nov. 8 meeting that the euro's appreciation against the dollar was ``not welcome.'' The G-10 bankers agreed global growth will probably slow ``a little'' this year after an ``exceptionally dynamic'' 2004, Trichet said then.

``We are closely watching'' exchange rates, Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting in Basel. Japan is in ``just a temporary pause. The underlying trend of recovery remains intact.''

Previous　Next

Copyright of crienglish.com. All rights reserved. Reproduction of text for non-commercial purposes is permitted provided that both the source and author are acknowledged and a notifying email is sent to us.