First, economic theory and historical experience suggest that the international use of a currency tends to change only very gradually over time. Second, the ECB’s monetary policy strategy is sufficiently robust to take into account and accommodate potential implications of the international role of the euro.
Both our principal foreign exchange sectors (tourism and international business) were hit. And growth stalled in all three of our main markets: the UK, the US and Canada. What has been our response? To persist with a strategy for adjustment and growth that has served us very well in the past.