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German finance minister sees no sign of deflation spiral in Europe

Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble makes remarks during a news conference during the IMF and World Bank 2014 Annual Spring Meetings in Washington, April 12, 2014. REUTERS/Mike Theiler

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Monday he sees no signs at all of a deflation spiral in Europe and ECB President Mario Draghi had made a convincing case at the recent IMF meeting that Europe's low inflation held no deflation risk.

In an interview with Germany's Deutschlandfunk radio he added, "of course the exchange rate is strong and if it were to continue to rise then it could negatively impact economic development in Europe, which has improved but needs to improve further. If European goods become too expensive and imports too cheap then that is not good."

Schaeuble added the Ukraine crisis was the biggest geo-political risk facing the world economy.

(Reporting by Alexandra Hudson)