The Euro has strengthened to a four-week high against the US Dollar after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said that the Euro-zone economy should recover and return to growth in the near future.
The ECB chose to maintain interest rates at the record low level of 0.5% as it waits to see whether early signs of improvement in the Eurozone will turn into a full scale recovery. Economic data in May showed signs of slight improvement in many EZ countries raising hopes that the currency bloc could see a gradual recovery over the rest of the year.
Addressing a press conference in Frankfurt Draghi told reporters that the economy is poised to recover over the course of the year generating positive movement in the markets.
“The governing council continues to see downside risks surrounding the economic outlook for the euro area,” he told journalists.
“They include the possibility of weaker than expected domestic and global demand and slow or insufficient implementation of structural reforms in euro area countries.”
However, he stuck with previous predictions that a gradual recovery would begin in the second half of the year.
“Export growth should benefit from a recovery in global demand, while domestic demand should be supported by the accommodative stance of our monetary policy and by the recent real income gains due to lower oil prices and generally lower inflation,” the president said.
Despite his positive talk of a recovery the Eurozone has not gotten off to a good start in June. The latest PMI data, jobs data and GDP data all showed further declines. With the situation still looking bleak any positive comments give the Euro positive movement.
Current Euro (EUR) Exchange Rates
The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3153
The Euro/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8513
The Euro/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3864
The Euro/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6564
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7649
The Pound Sterling /Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.1771
The Australian Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7235
The New Zealand Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6066
(Correct as of 14:20 pm GMT)
