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GERMANY

Euro zone leaders will save monetary union: German ambassador

Jeerawat Na Thalang

The Nation

Schulze

BANGKOK: -- In spite of the current gloomy economic prospects in the European Union, the German ambassador to Thailand has said the euro zone is unlikely to break up because its leaders are committed to saving the monetary union.

In addition, the economic woes in the EU are caused by the sovereign-debt crisis in some euro-zone countries, and not by the currency problem, said Rolf Schulze.

In spite of speculation that the euro may break up, Schulze said: "The political repercussions [from a euro currency break-up] would go far beyond the monetary [crisis] … None of the euro countries is willing to take the risk."

Some economists have been concerned that the sovereign-debt crisis in Greece could spill over to cause economic troubles across the European continent. In late February, Bank of Thailand Governor Prasarn Trairatvorakul said he envisaged the eventual break-up of the euro zone.

However, the German ambassador said during a press meeting on Monday: "Changing the euro zone is simply not an option." Leaders in the zone are trying to fix the sovereign-debt issue. For instance, the German government has contributed the lion's share, or 25 per cent, of the cash-flow pledge to assist needy euro-zone governments, he added.

At any rate, Schulze described the euro zone as a success story, even though member countries are currently going through a difficult period.

He cited the progress made in creating a fiscal union within the zone, and to remedy budget deficits.

On the recent flood crisis in Thailand, the ambassador said German companies had been less affected than those from other countries investing here. The German government has pledged US$150,000 (Bt4.6 million) of humanitarian aid to assist Thailand as a result of the floods, besides which German flood experts and their Thai counterparts are in the process of identifying areas of future cooperation.

For instance, the German government plans to take part in the restoration of the World Heritage temples in Ayutthaya that were damaged by the flood water.

Ambassador Schulze said the extent of the flooding was unforeseeable and there was no "ready-made recipe" to address the recent crisis, because every case has its own unique characteristics. Germany has had its own problems with floods in the eastern region of the country and its flood experts would be willing to share their experience with their Thai counterparts, he added.

Thailand hosts about 600 German firms and assembly lines, and the country receives about 500,000 visitors from Germany each year. Moreover, about 30,000 German nationals are permanent residents of the Kingdom, he said.

The ambassador also said this year marked the 150th anniversary of Thai-German diplomatic relations, with a wide range of social and cultural events and projects having been lined up to commemorate the occasion.

Cooperation between the two countries has been "friendly and cordial across the board" in the people-to-people sphere, as well as between the two governments, he added.

-- The Nation 2012-03-21

[andytime]

Don't you love public employees understanding of the world and it's issues. Of course there has been so much progress - the ECB lent 1.3 trillion out of thin air to the bankrupt EU banking system so that they could lever up and buy some more sovereign debt. Sounds good doesn't it. There is no need for a currency union and that is what will be the stumbling block for the EU. How could any politician think that could possibly work? The Germans benefitted the most as they were able to sell BMW cars to people who should never have been in a position to buy one due to attractive exchange rate entry into the EURO. I guess the only problem with that is when it comes to collecting your money from the system. If you have lent money to someone who can't pay and all you have is a piece of paper noting that then I suspect you may be a little worried at this stage of the game.

[Pib]

I believe every word of what this appointed, public official is saying.

[henryalleman]

If you talk about bankrupty of a monetary system, you better look to the US, there is even one state (California) that is already virtual bankrupt for many years. And the only things te US do to solve the problem is printing money.

And people should realise that Creece is e very small economy. All the commotion about the EURO zone is a political problem not an economical problem as such. And I can add wishful thinking of non European institutes who are hoping to gain money by the breaking up of the EURO. Because lets be honnest the US is very much afraid that one day the EURO could replace the US$ as world currency.

And I would advise you EURO sceptics to look to the trade balance of the EUROZONE and compare it with the trade balance of the US. In short all the commotion about the EURO is driving the attention away of the much more deplorable situation of the US$. In short many countries, China not the least are hostages of the US, They can't get rid of their US$ or they have to take huge losses and risking a collapse of the world economy. The only thing that keeps the US$ his present much overrated value is pure fear of collapse.