Wolfgang Schauble, German Finance Minister
The euro can’t make the progress against the dollar that it was making one month ago. It’s held down by the Greek debt and the threat of restructuring. And so are Germany’s ambitions for a greater economic union held hostage.
Instead investors are piling money into dollars, pounds, and the Swiss franc. The euro reached new lows against the franc.
The only reason the euro doesn’t slip any more is because Greek Finance Minister, George Papaconstantinou, said that Greece was going to stay in the Euro Zone. And in addition, the new European Central Bank chief, Mario Draghi, said the European Central Bank was going to raise its interest rates.
But at the same time, the European Commissions Greek representative said that Greece might “distance itself from the euro” if forced.
Only time will tell if all this bad news will have a domino effect and bring down Germany’s house of cards.