The US dollar continued to weaken in afternoon trading here, depressed by a resurgent euro and amid concerns that G7 finance minister and central bankers will criticize the weakness of the yen when they meet this weekend, dealers said. Earlier in the Asian session, the euro struck a new lifetime high of 160.88 yen against the yen, even though the European Central Bank (ECB) now seems likely to raise interest rates only in June, rather than in May, dealers said. At its meeting yesterday, the ECB, as expected, kept its benchmark refinance rate at 3.75 pct, but the statement it issued afterwards retained a generally hawkish tone. UOB said in a market note: "With [the] euro-zone appearing on track for solid growth, coupled with upside risks to inflation, markets are presently pricing around 50 pct odds of a further move to 4.25 pct by year-end." The G7 meeting starts today in Washington. Although there has been nothing to suggest the G7 officials will make any specific comment on the yen or its recent decline against the euro, market players are remain cautious, dealers said. There is also some concern that US data due to be released later today could add to the slew of weak indicators released in the past few weeks, which have played a part in hurting the dollar, dealers said. The latest US trade data, PPI and the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index are due to be released later today. The PPI is expected to have risen 0.7 pct last month on on the heels of the increase of 1.3 pct in February, according to a Market News International survey of economists. The US trade gap is expected to have widened to 60.3 bln usd in February, having narrowed to 59.1 bln usd in January.