The vagaries of the euro were outlined to members of the Plywood Club of London last week by Dennis Gepp, treasurer of the merchant bank, Brown Shipley.
Speaking about ‘The euro – two years on’, Mr Gepp described some of the reasons for the fall in value of the euro over the past two years and its recent rehabilitation due to worries about the slowdown of the US economy.
He believes that over the next six months the euro will stabilise at current levels against the US dollar, but that sterling will continue to slide against the euro as it is overvalued.
Mr Gepp also revealed that only 1% of people living in Euroland have euro bank accounts in the currency that will soon be their only legal tender. And, he said, 60% of Euroland businesses will not be ready for the adoption of the phasing out of their own currencies in six months time.
He sees many advantages to a single currency throughout Europe, particularly with regard to inter-EC trade. However, unless attitudes change dramatically, he said, the cost of the UK joining will be too high a price to pay in terms of the reduction of individuality and ultimate control from Brussels.
There is mounting opposition to the euro in the UK – more than 50% are against it compared to 17% when it was first introduced.
