Schnabel says now is the right time to boost euro role
FRANKFURT: European Central Bank (ECB) executive board member Isabel Schnabel sees a favourable moment now to strengthen the euro's global role as investors turn to Europe.
There's a 'window of opportunity' to increase the international role of the euro, she said in a question to a panel at the 31st Dubrovnik Economic Conference last Saturday.
Earlier at the same conference, she said that there are signals that investors are focusing on the continent to diversify their portfolios.
She had called it a 'positive confidence effect'.
The remarks reinforce comments from policymakers including President Christine Lagarde, and show how officials are seeking to turn President Donald Trump's attacks on global trade and US institutions to their advantage.
Investors have rushed out of the US dollar so far this year, with the greenback falling against every other major currency tracked by Bloomberg.
At the end of May, Lagarde called Trump's erratic policies a 'prime opportunity' to boost the euro's global role and gain privileges long held by the US dollar.
Furthermore, the changes 'create the opening for a 'global euro moment',' that politicians should seize, she said.
Trump has threatened to hit the bloc with hefty tariffs over its trade surplus with the United States. — Bloomberg
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