EU finance chiefs debate strong euro

EU finance ministers met in Brussels on Tuesday amid French concern over the strength of the euro.
 
Paris says the value of the single currency should not be left to the markets.
 
Officials are also continuing work on a planned banking union.
 
French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said they would plough on with proposals for a Europe-wide deposit guarantee scheme.
 
He said he had “raised the possibility of directly injecting cash from the ESM” (the eurozone’s permanent bailout fund) into sick banks.
 
France worries that an overly strong euro will blunt the eurozone’s competitiveness, crippling exports and growth.
 
The question is whether the European Central Bank would be prepared to make such a drastic intervention amid German fears that would compromise its independence.
 
Euronews’ Efi Koutsokosta said the EU would aim to strike a series of common positions ahead of a G20 meeting in Moscow.
 
Finance ministers and central bank governors will meet in the Russian capital from Friday with a so-called currency war at the top of their agenda, she said.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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