EU president Herman Van Rompuy said today that the euro was "fundamentally" healthy, after the currency plunged further on foreign exchange markets on concerns over public deficits in Europe.

"We don't make comments on the evolution of exchange rates on a daily basis, they go up and down," he said.

"But the euro is fundamentally a sound currency," he told a news conference in Madrid following a EU-Latin America summit.

He spoke a day after eurozone finance ministers vowed to fix the region's finances after expressing concern at the plunging euro which yesterday hit its lowest level since April 2006.

The euro recovered today but remained under pressure, trading at 1.2403 dollars in London, up from 1.2394 dollars late in New York yesterday when it also struck a four-year low of 1.2234.

"During 11 years our inflation rate (has been) beneath two percent, so we had during 11 years price stability."

"Second, we have a balance of payments (that's) almost in balance. It's the most important fundamental for the value of a currency.

"And three, our budget deficit is half as high as other important countries in the world economy.

"So the fundamentals of the euro are sound and safe, independent of the exchange rates on a daily basis."