ECB chief leaves Australia early for EU summit
(FRANKFURT) - European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet will leave a central bankers' meeting in Sydney early to attend an informal European Union summit in Brussels, an ECB spokesman told AFP Tuesday.
Trichet "is leaving early to attend the EU council meeting," the spokesman said, stressing this was not for an ECB council meeting as reported in error.
Reports that the debt and deficit problems of Greece, Spain and Portugal -- all of which belong to the 16-nation eurozone -- will be be high on the EU agenda in Thursday gave the euro a lift in Asian trading on Tuesday.
The single currency firmed to 1.3706 dollars in Tokyo afternoon trade from 1.3648 in New York late on Monday.
Central bankers from around the world had met in Sydney, partly to mark the Australian central bank's 50th anniversary.
In Brussels meanwhile, the European Union's new president, Herman Van Rompuy, called for an "economic government" for the 27-member EU, with closer policy coordination and financial incentives for good performers.
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