The Portugal New -Online: Europe against 'paying bill' for US financial turmoil
Europe's economy should not have to "pay the bill" for the current turbulence in US financial markets, the EU's Commissioner for Economy and Monetary Affairs said.
Europe against 'paying bill' for US financial turmoil
Joaquin Almunia, interviewed last week by Lusa in Brussels, said the euro "can not be the currency that pays the bill for the imbalances of other economies in the world", a reference to the recent turmoil in the US sub-prime market that the commissioner underlined should be "adjusted". "The doubt is in knowing to what extent" the US economy "will affect, or not, the growth of Europe's economy", Mr Almunia told Lusa, adding that he hoped the impact would not be great. The depreciation of the US dollar, he said, was "not a surprise" because the US economy was in "a clear process of slowing down" and its imbalances, "particularly in foreign debt, continue to have a great dimension. The European economy is not contributing to global imbalances and it is not just that the euro pay the bill for these imbalances", he stressed.
