Merkel says euro ‘too weak’

BERLIN: The euro is "too weak" due to the European Central Bank´s monetary policy, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday, pointing out that this helped explain Germany´s relatively high trade surplus.

Speaking to students at a secondary school in Berlin, Merkel said that the German trade surplus was propelled by two factors over which the government had no influence, namely the euro´s exchange rate and the oil price.

The centre-right chancellor said that the euro currently is "relatively weak". And then she added: "The euro is too weak due to the ECB´s policy and with this, German goods are comparatively cheap.  "Merkel told the students that another factor behind the German trade surplus was the relatively low oil price.  If energy prices were higher, the trade balance of the German economy which relies on oil imports would look different, she said.  The German government has repeatedly pushed back against U.S. criticism of its trade surplus, saying nobody could blame Berlin for the competitiveness of ´Made in Germany´ products.