German business hopeful of euro's stability

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS, NOV. 25. A survey by Germany's prestigious business newspaper Handels-blat, has said that German business executives expect the euro to recover in 2001 and predicts that the exchange rate of the euro would stabilise between 90 cents and $ 1. Only 13 per cent of the executives expect further fall in the euro's value. A common perception in more pessimistic quarters is that the euro will hover around the 80-cent mark. This pessimism has been fuelled by recent evidence that economic growth in the European region is slowing, and according to some economists, the European economy may be cooling more quickly than the growth in the U.S.

However, this view has been challenged by the current uncertainty about the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, amid growing conviction all round that the 43rd President - whoever he may be - will be seriously handicapped by the deeply divisive public opinion and damaged credibility of presidential authority, in the background of the menacing legal battles. Four out of five German business executives do not support another interest rate hike by the European Central Bank on the premise that it would hurt the euro-zone economy.

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Section  : International
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