EUROPEAN Monetary Union will shift investor emphasis to equity markets as they scramble to boost portfolios by moving away from bonds, a senior official at Smurfit has said.

Mr Ray Curran, financial director at Jefferson Smurfit, said there was already a move into equity markets and of bonds by European institutions trying to generate higher return on portfolios.

Speaking to the Irish Association of Corporate Treasurers, Mr Curran said pressure on governments to control budget deficits to comply with membership criteria for the single currency is likely to increase privatisation across Europe, he added.

"This will increase the range and scale of equities traded and will contribute to the development and will contribute to the development of an increasingly competitive market in which we must trade."