BERLIN, Feb 12 - German Economy and Labour Minister Wolfgang Clement said on Thursday the euro-dollar exchange rate should be kept in a "sensible corridor" to ensure growth and urged Asian economies to play their part. "The euro-dollar exchange rate must be kept in an economically sensible corridor," Clement told members of the German parliament in a debate on the government's reforms. "We cannot have the euro zone alone bearing the burden of the necessary adjustment of the dollar, while the Japanese central bank at least partially compensates pressure on the yen." Clement said he welcomed the statement from Group of Seven finance ministers last weekend, which he said stressed the responsibility of economies of East Asia. "It is important that at the right time we follow up words with actions," Clement said.
In a statement issued after two days of talks, G7 finance ministers and central bank governors emphasised that more flexibility in exchange rates was desirable for major countries or economic areas that lacked such flexibility. The statement was a thinly veiled reference to China, which has kept the yuan virtually fixed against the dollar for almost a decade, and to countries such as South Korea and Taiwan that have bought huge volumes of dollars to hold their currencies down. Clement said a second condition for growth in Germany was that rises of unit wage costs be kept moderate and the labour market made more flexible. Thirdly, he said, German politicians and industry bore responsibility for growth, in part by becoming more confident about the country's economic prospects. Clement also said he hoped that German unemployment would fall to or below the four million mark by late summer. German seasonally adjusted unemployment was 4.266 million in January. The headline unadjusted figure was 4.597 million.//