The persistent weakness of the euro is set to dominate a meeting of European finance ministers in Brussels today, but they are not expected to take fresh initiatives to support the ailing currency.
Finance ministers from the 11 euro-zone states gather for what should have been a routine meeting this morning before being joined two hours later by ministers from the four European Union countries outside the euro-zone.
The euro's fall to a new low of 88.40 US cents last week has created a growing sense of crisis around the currency, riveting market attention on the meeting. The currency has now lost almost a quarter of its value against the dollar since it was launched amid much fanfare in January last year.
"We will certainly have the occasion to speak about this situation on Monday," French Finance Minister Mr Laurent Fabius told reporters in Brussels on Friday.
In a sign of growing official concern, European Central Bank (ECB) president Mr Wim Duisenberg took the unprecedented step of issuing a statement on Friday to try to calm public worries about the weak euro.
"European citizens can be assured that the future of the euro is that of a strong currency, based on price stability and the strength of the European economy," he said.
ECB vice-president Mr Christian Noyer will join today's talks as Mr Duisenberg will be at a regular meeting in Basle, Switzerland, of central bankers from the Group of 10 leading industrial countries.
Belgian Finance Minister Mr Didier Reynders said on Friday it was up to Portugal, current EU president, to decide whether a statement on the euro was needed following today's talks.
The euro's latest fall came in the week that the EU Commission recommended Greece become the 12th member of the euro-zone in January next year.
The euro edged higher on Friday, trading more than one cent above Thursday's record low, buoyed by fears that European authorities might intervene to lift the currency.
The ECB has so far refrained from intervening, although it has the power to do so at any time and does not need the blessing of EU finance ministers.
But analysts say that to be effective intervention would need US support, and monetary sources say it is highly unlikely to get it. Mr Duisenberg would have a chance to raise the issue with other central bankers if he wished in Basle.
French Prime Minister Mr Lionel Jospin on Thursday raised the prospect of pressuring the US and Japan to help stem the euro's slide when he urged a "collective response" from the world's major currency blocs.
The possibility of ECB intervention will be highlighted today when finance ministers back a proposal to allow the ECB to call up more foreign exchange reserves from its 11 constituent national central banks. But the ECB is expected to say it has no intention of drawing on this ammunition unless its current €40 billion ($36.04 billion) war chest is depleted.
Euro-zone politicians and central bankers came out in force last week to try to talk up the euro. Most took the orthodox line that the euro's weakness against the dollar does not reflect strong euro-zone economic fundamentals and expressed confidence it will recover.
A host of reasons have been put forward for the euro's weakness, the most compelling one being the relative sluggishness of the European economy in comparison with the supercharged United States. But critics have also accused the EU of political weakness, failing to drive through structural reforms and failing to speak with one voice on key economic issues.
On the agenda for the Ecofin meeting of all 15 EU finance ministers are a review of Austria's budgetary "stability programme" and a review of the EU's annual economic policy guidelines.
Over lunch, ministers will discuss whom to nominate to replace Mr Horst Koehler as president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a job expected to go to French Treasury director Mr Jean Lemierre.
