FRANKFURT (MktNews) - Stronger economic fundamentals in the 12-nation eurozone than in the United States this year should provide a "stable base" for a stronger euro exchange rate, German Finance Minister Hans Eichel said Friday.
Eichel declined to comment on the euro's current bout of weakness which has seen the single currency slip below $0.90, this week. "We will have more stable and stronger growth than the United States this year, and that is a stable base for a stronger euro," Eichel told reporters after a banking event here. "The rest is up to the markets to decide."
Eichel dismissed arguments that weak foreign direct investment in the eurozone was behind the euro's weakness.
"We have seen an enormous rise in foreign direct investments to Germany," he countered. "And that shows that the eurozone is attractive."
Eichel declined to evaluate the European Central Bank's (ECB) interest rate policy.
"The ECB has followed a path that has not hindered growth," he said. "It has also guaranteed price stability, which is a good thing, and has done so independently," he said.