Italian finance minister Fabrizio Saccomanni warned that the strength of euro could damage Europe's economic recovery, in an interview with the Financial Times on Tuesday. "The euro is now the strongest currency in the world, vis a vis the dollar the renminbi, the pound, the Swiss franc," Saccomanni told the British daily.
"That must reflect the perception of the monetary stance in Europe vis a vis what other countries are doing now and in the foreseeable future. If . . . I understand markets, they want to see some concrete action at some point and maybe before the end of the year," he added. Italy downgraded its growth forecast for 2013 on Monday, predicting a shrinkage in gross domestic product (GDP) of 1.8 percent compared to a previous estimate of 1.7 percent contraction.
The official Istat agency said it expected the recession - Italy's longest since World War II - to end only in the fourth quarter with a modest uptick in growth.
However, it also forecast that the economy will switch into growth, expanding by 0.7 percent in 2014 thanks to internal and external demand, but it said unemployment - which often lags in a recovery - would rise to 12.4 percent.
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