FRANKFURT, 22 December 2003 — In trade, on capital markets and as foreign exchange, the euro is being used increasingly around the world according to the European Central Bank, which is now facing pressure to curb the single currency’s rise. When the euro was launched almost five years ago on Jan. 1, 1999, skeptics belittled the idea of a new European currency, forecasting that it would never challenge the omnipresent US dollar.