Euro ‘needs to decline by 14% against sterling’

THE value of the euro needs to fall 14% against sterling for Irish food exports to regain competitiveness.

Kerry Group Chief Financial Officer Brian Mehigan recently said the food industry needs the euro to settle at under 80p.

The exchange rate was at about 87p for much of February, and Mr Mehigan said, “It is fair to say that maybe there is some optimism coming in with the weakness of the euro. I think 87p for sterling is better than 94p, but it still needs to get down below 80p to be competitive,” said Mr Mehigan.