VIENNA (MNI) – The current foreign exchange value of the euro is
very near the rate that the economic fundamentals would suggest,
European Central Bank Governing Council member Jozef Makuch said Monday.
Speaking to reporters on the margins of a conference sponsored by
the Austrian National Bank, the head of Slovakia’s central bank also
voiced support for a European rating agency.
Asked whether he was concerned with the recent decline of the euro,
Makuch replied, “the euro is very close to fundamentals, it is a good
exchange rate, supporting our exports. I am happy with the rate.”
“I think it is a really good idea to have some new European agency,
rating agency, but you need to have some time to create it and to create
the measures,” he said.
It is too early to say whether such an agency should be public or
not, he said, “but I prefer a solution of a European rating agency.”
Citing the positive Japanese experience, he added, “I don’t think
it will be bad in Europe to have a European agency.”
–Frankfurt bureau tel.: +49-69 720142. Email: dbarwick@marketnews.com
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