The euro slumped against the dollar earlier today after an Italian minister was quoted as suggesting the country should consider adopting its own currency again and abandon the euro.
Welfare minister Roberto Maroni said in a newspaper interview that Italy should hold a referendum on whether to revert to the lira currency it abandoned when 12 nations started to use euro notes and coins in 2002.
The euro initially tumbled as the report added to concerns about the European Union's outlook - politically and economically. Earlier the euro was trading at around $1.2273.
The comments added fuel to recent talk of a possible break-up of the euro zone, which EU leaders have dismissed as "absurd".
Mr Maroni, a member of the euro-sceptical Northern League party, said the euro "has proved inadequate in the face of the economic slowdown, the loss of competitiveness and the job crisis".
He also said European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet was one of those chiefly responsible for the "disaster of the euro."
His views are not believed to be shared by those with far greater sway over economic policy, however, such as prime minister Silvio Berlusconi or economy minister Domenico Siniscalco.
Analysts say outside the single currency Italy would have far higher interest rates and debt-servicing costs that would swell the budget deficit and possibly cause a financial crisis.