Economist: ‘No eurozone inflation risk’

“I don’t see an increased risk of the currency depreciating,” executive ECB board member Jörg Asmussen told the weekly Bild am Sonntag.

Asmussen said ECB forecasts acted on the assumption that “inflation will again fall below two percent next year.” The ECB also guarantees that the euro will be a stable currency in the future, he added.

“Nobody should worry about that,” Asmussen said, adding that since the introduction of the single currency in 2002 eurozone inflation had been hovering around two percent.

Inflation in Germany where EU steps taken to help struggling eurozone members, including the ECB’s bond-buying policy, are not widely accepted, inflation stands at 1.6 percent, he told the paper.

“This is less than at the time of the Deutsche Mark,” he added.

Higher eurozone inflation in September of 2.7 percent from 2.6 percent in August was due to rising energy prices. Asmussen spoke amid fears in Germany that the rescue of the euro could lead to spiralling inflation.

AFP/jcw