The great dates of the euro, which for the first time reached the same value as the dollar

These are the big dates for the euro, which briefly reached parity with the US dollar on Tuesday for the first time in 20 yearsweighed down by energy tensions in Europe and the strength of the greenback.

the euro is the official currency in 19 countries of the European Union (340 million inhabitants in total).

-31 December 1998: On the eve of the launch of the euro, foreseen by the Maastricht Treaty, the definitive conversion rates were announced in Brussels: 166,386 pesetas; 1,95583 brands; 6.55957 francs or 1,936.27 lire for one euro.

The indicative exchange rate against the greenback was $ 1.1668, but after the first day of trading on January 4, it rose to $ 1.1837.

The strength of the single European currency did not last. The US economy was booming and the euro dropped below the $ 1 mark in January 2000, dropping to an all-time low of $ 0.8230 at the end of October.

The euro began to be used on 1 January by citizens of eleven countries.

It is the beginning of a period of Double circulationwith a progressive withdrawal of national currencies until March 1, 2002.

The economic outlook for the euro area and the United States converge, with the euro hovering around parity with the dollar.

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-15 July 2008, the euro jumped to 1.6038 dollars, its all-time high, against a dollar sunk by the “subprime” crisis. The euro zone entered a one-year recession in November.

In 2010, the EU faced the debt crisis. In May, the euro zone and the IMF bailed out Greece with 110,000 million euros in aid, in exchange for a severe austerity plan. In June, the euro fell below $ 1.20.

–25 July 2012: Spain’s long-term interest rate rose more than 7.6%, raising concerns that the eurozone could explode.

On the 26th, the then president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, declared that the institute was “willing to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro”, managing to calm the markets.

Although Draghi’s program reassured investors, the eurozone struggled to return to solid growth and the ECB maintained an ultra-easy policy.

The European economy was struggling to recover and inflation remained low, but the ECB celebrated the fall of the euro, which favored exporting companies. In 2014, the euro fell below $ 1.2.

In 2015, a new round of monetary easing brought the euro down to $ 1.05 in March.

Altered markets

In 2016, several political events worried the markets. The Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump to the White House have pushed traders towards the safe haven dollar.

In January 2017, the euro approached parity with the greenback, at $ 1.0341.

That year, Emmanuel Macron’s election to the presidency of France somewhat reassured markets about the future of the euro zone. In February 2018, the single currency rose to $ 1.2555.

Initially, the covid-19 pandemic prompted the Federal Reserve and the US government to support the US economy at all costs and brought the dollar down.

But the Fed started showing signs in 2021 of a tightening of monetary policy.

It started to raise rates in 2022, when the war in Ukraine in Europe prevents the ECB from acting so quickly to tackle inflation.

The euro-dollar pair flirted with parity again in early July when the shortage of gas supplies to Europe worried and on Tuesday the euro was briefly quoted at one dollar.

Source: AFP

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