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Frankfurt: European Central Bank (ECB) council member Erkki Liikanen said European exporters appear to be coping with the stronger euro and policy makers remain focused on fighting inflation.
"Euro-area exports have continued to be rather strong despite the euro's exchange rate," Liikanen said in Jyvaeskylae, central Finland yesterday.
Risks
There are "upside" risks to inflation and anchoring price expectations is the "ECB's central task."
The ECB on April 10 left its benchmark rate at a six-year high of 4 per cent to fight inflation, which accelerated to 3.6 per cent in March. The ECB's reluctance to follow the US Federal Reserve in lowering borrowing costs has driven the euro to a record against the dollar, undermining the outlook for euro-region exports.
Stats
Exports to Eastern Europe, Russia and Asia may counter some of the decline in orders from the US Euro-area.
Shipments to Poland jumped 24 per cent in January from a year earlier, exports to Russia rose 25 per cent and shipments to China gained 28 per cent, the European Union's statistics office said yesterday.
Liikanen said while the financial-market crisis may last longer than predicted and Europe's economy is cooling, "growth is ongoing."
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