THE TELEGRAPH: Europe's top central banker has rubbished suggestions that the single currency is under attack by speculators, despite the euro plummeting to a 19-month low against the dollar.
In what will come as a boost to the much-criticised hedge fund industry, Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), said the poor state of Europe's public sector was to blame for the Continent's troubles.
Mr Trichet also rejected as "nonsense" suggestions that European governments had forced the ECB to act last week in the face of the sovereign debt crisis.
The ECB head told Der Spiegel, the German magazine, that Europe could be facing its toughest situation for 65 years. "Without a doubt, since September 2008 we have been in the most difficult situation since the Second World War, perhaps since the First."
Mr Trichet said the slump in the euro – which tumbled 1.5 cents against the dollar on Friday to $1.2358 – was the fault of European governments themselves.
"It is not a question of an attack on the euro. It is to do with the public sector and hence to do with financial stability in the euro area," he said. "It's clear that the chief responsibility of Europeans is to take appropriate measures to counteract the current tensions in Europe." >>> Jonathan Sibun | Saturday, May 15, 2010
