LONDON (MarketWatch) — Some of the 13 members of the euro zone have fared better than others as the euro has grown in strength, but a sustained rise by the currency will put the squeeze on all involved, economists said. And while some countries have suffered acutely from the euro’s strength, a continued appreciation will affect all euro-zone economies and trim the region’s economic growth, economists said. Structural reforms have so far allowed the euro zone’s largest and third-largest economies, Germany and Italy, to fare better than the second-largest, France. The German and Italian economies are also cushioned somewhat because they export more to emerging European countries, whose currencies haven’t fluctuated so wildly against the euro. According to International Monetary Fund data, 16% of all German exports headed toward countries such as the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland during 2006, double that of France, which exported only 8% of its goods to those countries. Currency strength seen squeezing euro-zone growth – MarketWatch Intraday data provided by Comstock , a division of Interactive Data Corp. read more
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