10/02/2003 (Agence Europe) - The Vice-President of the European Central Bank (ECB), Lucas Papademos, argues that the rise of the euro did not challenge the ECB's predictions of growth of around 1.5% this year in the eurozone. At a conference in Athens last Friday on economic policy in Europe, he said that the euro could contribute to holding back growth in exports, but should not fundamentally alter the basic growth scenario since the competitiveness of the eurozone remains unchanged. He added that the current level of ECB interest rates was appropriate for speeding up growth from the second half of the year onwards. The ECB is forecasting economic growth in 2003 of between 1.1% and 2.1%.