(Updated with reaction from the ECB)
July 13 (Reuters) – The euro briefly fell below parity with the dollar on Wednesday for the first time since December 2002, after the announcement of higher than expected inflation in June in the United States.
The single currency was trading at $1.0093 around 4:40 p.m. GMT after a low of 0.9999.
The European Central Bank (ECB) monitors the euro exchange rate because of its impact on inflation, but does not target a specific level, a spokesperson for the institution said on Friday.
“The ECB does not target a particular exchange rate. However, we are always mindful of the impact of the exchange rate on inflation, in line with our price stability mandate,” he said in a statement. .
The euro is suffering from the prospect of a sustained rise in interest rates in the United States, reinforced by the inflation figures published on Wednesday, and fears of recession in Europe.
The single European currency has depreciated by 12% since the start of the year and its decline has accelerated in recent weeks.
It is mainly suffering from the rise in American and British interest rates, which is earlier and which promises to be faster than that of European Central Bank (ECB) rates, and from the exposure of euro-zone countries to the fallout the conflict in Ukraine, which raises fears of a slowdown in growth, or even a recession in the event of a complete halt in Russian gas deliveries.
The dollar, for its part, benefits from its status as a safe haven in a context dominated by the deterioration of the economic outlook: the American currency is evolving at its highest for 20 years against other major currencies and for 24 years against the yen. (Edited by Reuters with Francesco Canepa in Frankfurt, written by Marc Angrand, Claude Chendjou and Bertrand Boucey, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)