Pressure is mounting on the European Central Bank (ECB) to take action against a persistently strong euro with a leading industrialist calling on Frankfurt to tackle the "crazy" strength of the currency.
Fabrice Brégier, chief executive of Airbus's passenger jet business, said the ECB should intervene to push the value of the euro against the dollar down by 10 per cent from an "excessive" $1.35 to between $1.20 and $1.25.
" cannot be the only economic zone of the world that doesn't consider its currency as a weapon . . . as a key asset to promote its economy," he told the Financial Times in an interview. Mr Brégier's comments coincide with calls from the International Monetary Fund and politicians in some eurozone countries – France in particular – for the bank to consider a program of quantitative easing to tackle low inflation, sluggish economic growth and the strong euro.
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