Euro Forecasters See Pain After Worst Year Since 2005
Midway through European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s May press conference in Brussels, the euro rose to its strongest level during his tenure. Then he said the ECB was ready to introduce more stimulus measures, sending it into a slide that strategists say will extend into 2015.
Europe’s common currency, which appreciated to $1.3993 that May day, ended last year down 12 percent against the dollar, its biggest loss since 2005. Strategists, who were too timid with their call for a decline in 2014 to $1.28, now see a slump to $1.18 by the end of this year. The euro set a four-year low of $1.2004 today.
A weaker euro is key for Draghi as he tries to spur the region’s struggling economy and ward off deflation. He started this year by telling German newspaper Handelsblatt that the risk of deflation in the region cannot be excluded, bolstering speculation policy makers will soon start actions such as buying bonds that tend to weigh on a currency.
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