Oil prices set a new record Monday at more than US$143 per barrel.

But ministers from Germany, Spain and France warned the ECB at the weekend against measures that could stifle the economy.

“The ECB has to consider that they could possibly send the wrong signal with an interest rate increase because it could have a pro-cyclical impact at a point when the economy is slowing down,” German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck told the weekly Der Spiegel.

On Monday, France’s junior minister for European affairs, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, said the ECB was pursuing the right strategy if its tactics persuaded the U.S. Federal Reserve to take a more “responsible” stance, an allusion to the slump in the U.S. dollar accentuated by low interest rates in the United States.

While the ECB has been considering a rate rise, the Fed has been lowering borrowing costs to support slowing growth.

The euro has also been supported by stronger economic fundamentals although the outlook has begun to worsen.

European Commission data showed on Friday that eurozone economic sentiment dropped strongly in June, led by weaker confidence in all sectors except services while inflation expectations among consumers and companies jumped.

Eurostat’s inflation estimate contained no monthly data or details but separate country data has shown inflation surging in Germany, the eurozone’s biggest economy, to a near 15-year high of 3.3 percent in June, compared with May’s 3.0 percent.

In Spain, a one-time boomer hit by a housing bust, inflation in June was announced at 5.1 percent, the highest since records began in January 1997, while Belgian inflation was at a near 24-year high of 5.8 percent.

Eurozone newcomer Slovenia said Monday its inflation rate increased to 6.8 percent in June from May’s 6.3 percent.

In Italy, EU harmonized consumer prices (HICP) rose a preliminary 0.5 percent month-on-month in June, with the year-on-year inflation rate accelerating to a new record of 4.0 percent from 3.7 percent, data showed Monday.

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