'Silvio Berlusconi launched an astonishing attack on the euro yesterday when he blamed the Europe's single currency for Italy's economic woes in the starkest comments to date, saying it "screwed everybody".

The Italian Prime Minister has frequently blamed the euro for pushing up prices and choking off exports. Yesterday the billionaire claimed that his main political foe, the former prime minister Romano Prodi, had brought Italy to the brink of disaster by negotiating bad terms for its entry into the single currency. He told a conference of his Forza Italia party: "Italy is not at a disastrous point, but I can say that Prodi's euro screwed us all," trying to score points against his opponent in the run up to the campaign for next year's general election.'

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