The statements by ECB President Mario Draghi and the upcoming election in Greece burden increasingly the common currency. The euro fell at the opening of trading below the mark of 1,20 US dollars. The British pound also reported heavy losses after Prime Minister Cameron would prefer a referendum about the continuance in the EU before 2017.
Euro on its lowest level since nearly 9 years
The bad news for the euro zone do not stop. The President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, now said he could not rule out a deflation in the euro zone. This statement makes it very likely that the ECB will decide at the latest on their meeting on January 22th, an extensive program to buy government bonds in order to pump more money into the ailing economy, and stimulate the low Infaltion in the euro zone.
Greek exit from euro zone not excluded
Another burden are the upcoming parliamentary elections in Greece. According to surveys, the leftist SYRIZA party could be the strongest force in parliament after the election, and set the Prime Minister. The partys chairman Alexis Tsipras has, in the case of election victory, announced a departure from the reforms of the ancient Greek State. From German government circles now voices are being raised in this case a Greek exit from the euro would no longer be ruled out. According to other crisis countries have recovered, a Greek exit would be to cope. But an exit would still be a heavy burden for the common currency, this shows already in the rate of the euro, which today began trading at 1.1943 US dollars already, and meanwhile fell to a low of $1.1864.
Announced referendum expresses the British pound
The UK Prime Minister David Cameron has called for as early as possible referendum on continuance of the UK in the EU. Euro skeptic politicians of his own party, and the right-wing populist UKIP, put the Prime Minister under increasing pressure, but it can also be as a signal for the required renegotiation of membership in the EU in order to bring to this kind in a stronger position. Investors see a possible exit of the United Kingdom from EU with skepticism, and the British currency fell at the start of the trading week around 0.5% against the US dollar.