Asia, EU Can Weather Economic Slowdown, Officials Say - by Rainer Buergin and Sandrine Rastello
Asia and Europe are better placed than other regions to cope with the global economic slowdown, according to officials attending a meeting of finance ministers from the two continents in Jeju, South Korea. The two areas ``have good fundamentals to weather in better condition than others these difficulties,'' European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in an interview today. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said the regions ``were far more resilient than expected in the light of the international economic crisis.'' Still, Almunia said Asia and Europe face ``difficulties from an inflation point of view, because of oil prices, because of food prices.'' Financial-market turmoil is ``having some consequences in our real economies and growth forecasts have been reduced a little bit.'' Spanish Finance Minister Pedro Solbes said inflation over the medium to long term is ``the biggest danger'' for economic growth in Europe. At the same time, he added, governments must foster productivity growth and increase competitiveness.
In an interview, European Central Bank Vice President Lucas Papademos said last week's report that labor costs accelerated in the euro-area by their most since 2003 ``was indicative of intensifying domestic inflation pressures.''
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