November 22, 2007	Thursday	Ziqa’ad 11, 1428

LONDON, Nov 21: The dollar on Wednesday slumped to a fresh record low against the euro owing to weaker US growth projections and the prospect of another cut to American interest rates, traders said.

The European single currency struck a record peak of $1.4855 -- the highest level since the euro’s creation in 1999.

In late European trade, the euro stood at $1.4833, compared with 1.4836 in New York late on Tuesday.

The dollar dipped to 108.55 yen, against 109.98 late on Tuesday, after earlier touching 108.27 yen, the lowest level since June 2005. It also hit a low against the Swiss franc at 1.1025 per dollar.

“The dollar has come under renewed downward pressure after relatively upbeat real GDP forecasts by the Federal Reserve were coupled with warnings over the risks to growth from deteriorating financial market conditions,” said Lee Hardman, currency economist at The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in London.

The US central bank on Wednesday trimmed back its growth projections citing weakness in housing and tighter credit conditions, but suggested policymakers are unsure about future rate decisions.

The Federal Reserve projected growth next year in a range of 1.8 to 2.5 per cent, down from a prior forecast of 2.5 to 2.75 per cent.

The Fed had slashed borrowing costs by a hefty half-point in September followed by another quarter-point cut last month in the wake of a collapse in the sub-prime housing market, which sees mortgages loaned to high-risk borrowers.—AFP