U.S. tourist Colter Young poses for a picture next to a FC Barcelona poster in Barcelona
U.S. tourist Colter Young poses for a picture next to a FC Barcelona poster in Barcelona March 14, 2015. "I study in Italy, and the strength of the relative currencies makes a great impact, especially with items I purchase most often, such as food. This spring, with the increasing strength of the dollar, I have more financial freedom," he said when asked about the impact of the dollar's strenght against the euro. The euro's exchange rate against the U.S. dollar has fallen about 25 percent since the middle of 2014 to within a few cents of a 1:1 parity rate not seen since 2002. The steep slide in one of the world's pivotal currency pairs comes as interest rate policy either side of the Atlantic diverges. The U.S. Federal Reserve (FED) is preparing for its first official rate rise in nine years just as the European Central Bank (ECB) is driving down long-term euro borrowing costs through its launch this month of a bond-buying, or "quantitative easing", policy. REUTERS/Albert Gea (SPAIN - Tags: SOCIETY BUSINESS POLITICS)