ECB celebrates euro's 'success'

Continental bankers and politicians today celebrated the tenth anniversary of the European Central Bank (ECB), hailing it, and the single currency it oversees, as one of the biggest successes of post-War Europe.

The euro was launched by the various independent central banks in January 1998, but it was only in June of that year that the central bank was formally convened.

Bankers and leaders of the countries whose citizens use the currency met at Frankfurt's Opera House.

Although the euro got off to a dismal start, plummeting against the dollar to as low as 82.72 cents in 2000, it has since rallied enormously - albeit mainly due to dollar weakness. Today it was trading at $1.5526.

But the ECB still faces its biggest challenge: formulating an interest rates policy for a Europe divided by economic achievement.

With southern Europe mired in slowdown and Germany forges ahead, economists are asking how it will solve the conundrum.