The euro yesterday fell strongly against the US dollar after Italy's welfare minister Roberto Maroni said his country should consider temporary readoption of the lira.
The single European currency dropped to US$1.2220 in early European trading, from US$1.2309 just before dealers began reacting to Maroni's comments in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. The euro later stood at US$1.2266.
Maroni is a member of Italy's xenophobic Northern League party, which is part of Italy's ruling coalition headed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Maroni told La Repubblica that the introduction of the euro had not been an adequate measure to tackle an economic slowdown and a decline in competitiveness in Italy.
It would therefore be "better" to temporarily have a dual circulation of the euro and the lira in Italy, he said.
The euro has suffered badly this week, sinking to US$1.2160 on Wednesday -- the lowest level since Sept. 20 -- in the wake of French and Dutch voters' rejection of the draft EU constitution.
Maroni, a member of the euro-skeptical Northern League party, said the euro "has proved inadequate in the face of the economic slowdown, the loss of competitiveness and the job crisis."
He also said European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet was one of those chiefly responsible for the "disaster of the euro."
In this situation, the answer is to give the government greater power to defend national industry from foreign competition and "to give control over the exchange rate back to the government," he said.
FRIDAY, SATURDAY: While Typhoon Champi might weaken, officials warned about large waves, while some transport services and tourist spots have been affected Typhoon Champi is forecast to have the greatest effect on Taiwan tomorrow and on Saturday, with a sea warning issued late last night and a land warning expected afternoon today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The storm’s projected track has shifted slightly westward and it could begin moving away from Taiwan toward Japan’s Kyushu island on Saturday, with the warnings potentially lifted as early as Saturday afternoon, CWA forecaster Chang Cheng-chuan (張承傳) said. As of yesterday afternoon, Champi was about 910km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, CWA data showed. Its maximum sustained winds had weakened slightly to
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday urged China not to exploit typhoons to assert jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait. The CGA issued the remarks after it found that China was shadowing eight Japan Coast Guard ships that sheltered in Taiwan proper’s western waters due to Typhoon Champi. Eight Japan Coast Guard (JCG) vessels sailed southward along the Taiwan Strait median line from 6am on Thursday, reaching waters southwest of Penghu County’s Cimei Island (七美島), outside Taiwan’s contiguous zone, which extends 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the territorial sea baseline, it said. As the Japanese ships prepared for the typhoon, they were followed by
STAY CAUTIOUS: Rain is expected to begin easing this afternoon, but a CWA forecaster said that if the storm stalls or loops on its approach, heavy winds are likely Typhoon Champi, which caused widespread damage and injuries, and prompted road closures and evacuations across Taiwan yesterday, is expected to continue to bring heavy rain this morning, with up to 900mm of rain forecast for mountainous areas of New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Yilan County, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. At one point a super typhoon and one of the strongest storms in the Pacific this year, Champi was packing gusts of about 191kph near its center as of 8:30pm, the CWA said. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung, Taoyuan, Hsinchu city and county, Taichung; and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin
TOTAL COVERAGE: Champi’s outer band is expected to blanket the entire nation, with the center coming closest tonight or tomorrow before leaving tomorrow evening School and work across most of the nation has been canceled today, as Typhoon Champi is expected to skirt the northeast edge of Taiwan proper. As of 9pm, all municipalities except for Kinmen County had announced cancelations. Taitung County last night announced closures on Green Island (綠島) and Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼), but did not announce for the rest of the county until 6am today. Stock market settlements scheduled for today would be postponed to the next business day, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said. The announcements came after the Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday expanded its land warning for Champi to 19 regions
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