The euro will decrease over the next 16 months, Russia's former finance minister Alexei Kudrin said on Tuesday.
"From my point of view, the euro will begin declining over the next year and a half amid volatility," Kudrin wrote on his Twitter.
Kudrin said that the currency crisis in Europe had already started and was 90 percent sure that one to three states would leave the eurozone. Greece, Ireland and Portugal have the largest debt problems, while Spain and Italy may enter the high-risk zone in the near future.
The former minister also said that world economy growth in 2012 would be lower than the expected 3.3 percent owing to the second wave of the crisis, the thick of which would be in the eurozone as the debt crisis worsened the prospects of the EU.
Russia's Economic Development Minister Elvira Nabiullina said the European economy had faced recession and might fall 0.6 percent under the ministry's forecast.
Nabiullina believes the European states would not overcome the crisis by simply reducing state debts, expenses and budget deficits. The main reason for the eurozone crisis is that European products have become less competitive.
She also thinks the EU's problems are long-term and objective and are linked with the depletion of the pre-crisis growth model so the crisis could not be overcome merely by measures of fiscal consolidation.
Last November, the European Commission decreased its forecast on EU gross domestic product growth to 0.6 percent for 2012 from 1.6 percent for 2011. The forecast on eurozone economy growth was downgraded to 0.5 percent for 2012 from 1.5 percent for 2011.
The Commission also expects the EU economy will return to a 1.5-percent growth rate in 2013, while eurozone economy growth may rise to 1.3 percent next year.
