The European Central Bank president, Mr Wim Duisenberg, said yesterday that a further decline of the euro would be a matter of concern for the ECB.

"If the decline were to go on, it would be a matter of concern," Duisenberg said in a speech on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings here.

Duisenberg said that the current level of the euro against the dollar is about the same as it would have been between July 1997 and September 1998, and the recent decline must be seen as following the "europhoria" which lifted European currencies between September 1998 and the launch of the euro in January.

There are factors pointing to a strengthening of the euro, he said. "I can define and detect more factors which could point in the direction of a strengthening of the euro, rather than a weakening," he said. The euro has lost about 10 per cent of its value since its launch.

However, European monetary affairs commissioner Mr Yves Thibault de Silguy told the IMF's policy-making interim committee on Tuesday that the fall had been "relatively modest" and that "there is no significant misalignment" in the euro's exchange rate.

The euro's slide has been blamed partly on the sluggish pace of economic momentum in the EU compared to the US.

De Silguy predicted that the European slowdown would come to an end in the second half of the year, with growth rebounding in the euro area to 2.7 per cent in 2000.

The IMF has said the 11 countries that have adopted the euro should post growth of two per cent this year and 2.9 per cent in 2000.