ECB Officials Closely Monitoring Strengthening Euro, Rehn Says

(Bloomberg) -- The European Central Bank is closely monitoring the euro’s strengthening against the U.S. dollar, Governing Council member Olli Rehn told Germany’s Boersen-Zeitung.

While the ECB doesn’t target the exchange rate, “that does not mean that the appreciation is not important,” as it leads to a loss of competitiveness and affects the outlook for growth and inflation, Rehn, the Finnish central bank governor, was cited by the newspaper as saying. “We monitor exchange-rate developments very closely and we will continue to do so in the future.”

The euro has strengthened around 15% against the dollar since March, trading at $1.2293 at 4:07 p.m. Frankfurt time. ECB Executive Board member Isabel Schnabel said on Dec. 17 that several factors are behind the development, including prospects of a faster global recovery.

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