Top Banker Warns: Expect European Union to Print Euros
The EU has already said it will soon conduct U.S. style stress tests on its own banks. Now a major European bank’s currency chief warns that the political and economic union of nations will be forced to print fresh euros as well, raising the specter of massive inflation there and rounds of damaging competitive devaluations worldwide.
The European Central Bank will have to print and then sell euros to protect member countries’ exports, says David Bloom, global head of foreign exchange strategy at HSBC.
Bloom told cable network CNBC that, despite disagreements among the 16 countries that use the euro “there's one thing that they have in common, the euro."
The currency’s strength hurts member countries by making their exports more expensive in foreign currency terms. After touching a low of $1.26 in March, the euro has jumped 8 percent to $1.36.
When the euro reaches $1.50, the ECB will have to act, Bloom argues.