Germany Export Assn: Euro Markedly Below $1.20 At Year End

BERLIN (MNI) – The German Export and Wholesale Association (BGA)
expects the euro exchange rate to fall markedly below $1.20 at the end
of the year, BGA President Anton Boerner told German N-TV television in
an interview aired Tuesday.

“For German exports, a weaker euro is certainly good news in the
short term,” Boerner said in view of the recent euro depreciation.

However, over the medium term, German competitiveness will be hurt
by imported inflation, especially if the euro becomes markedly weaker
than now, “something which we believe,” the BGA head warned.

“We believe that [the euro] will fall very distinctly under $1.20
at the end of the year,” he said.

Boerner called the European aid package for financially troubled
Eurozone states agreed on Monday the entry into a monetary transfer
union.

“This is a catastrophe for our economy, because we believe firmly
that we won’t be able to get the specter of inflation under control over
the medium to long term,” he asserted.

–Berlin bureau: +49-30-22 62 05 80; email: twidder@marketnews.com

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