Euro Falls as France Central Bank Chief Warns on Interest Rates
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The euro is going down in value. It dropped 1.2% last week. Now it is falling more.
The head of the French central bank gave a warning. He said France could be 'strangled by interest rates'. This means high interest rates could hurt France very badly.
There are worries about French debt. Debt is money that a country owes. There is also political uncertainty in Europe. This means people do not know what will happen in politics.
Oil prices are also falling. Oil is now under $100 a barrel. A barrel is a unit used to measure oil.
Brent crude is oil from the sea near Europe. It fell to $99.38 a barrel. Now it is $99.54 a barrel. That is down 0.8%.
US oil is called light crude. It fell more than Brent. It dropped 1.2% to $88.34 a barrel.
These changes show problems in the world economy. An economy is how money and business work in a country.
Vocabulary15 words
- euro
- the money used in many European countries
- central bank
- a big bank that controls money for a country
- debt
- money that must be paid back
- political uncertainty
- not knowing what will happen in politics
- oil prices
- how much money oil costs
- Brent crude
- a kind of oil from the sea near Europe, used to set world oil prices
- light crude
- a kind of oil from the United States
- economy
- how money and business work in a place
- interest rates
- extra money paid back on a loan
- barrel
- a unit used to measure amounts of oil
- warning
- words that tell people about danger
- value
- how much something is worth
- drop
- to go down
- worries
- feelings of fear about problems
- France
- a country in Europe
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Quiz
Answer key
1. It fell in value 2. High interest rates hurting France 3. True
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Fill-in-the-blank listening
Play the audio again and fill in the missing words as you listen.
The _____ is going down in value. It dropped 1.2% last week. Now it is falling more.
The head of the French central bank gave a _____. He said France could be 'strangled by interest rates'.
There are worries about French _____. There is also political uncertainty in Europe.
Oil prices are also falling. Oil is now under $100 a _____.
Brent crude fell to $99.38 a barrel. Now it is $99.54 a barrel. That is down _____%.
US oil is called light crude. It dropped 1.2% to $_____ a barrel.
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