An official at the US Treasury said the recent depreciation of the Chinese currency could raise “serious concerns” if it signaled a policy shift away from allowing market-determined exchange rates.
The official, who asked not to be named, told journalists in a phone call:
“If the recent currency weakness signals a change in China’s policy away from allowing adjustment and moving toward a market-determined exchange rate, that would raise serious concerns”
The comment was one of those that outlined U.S. positions ahead of meetings later this week of the International Monetary Fund and between Group of 20 nations (posted earlier here)
- United States also appears likely to pressure Europe at the meetings to act more decisively to fix its troubled banking sector
- Said also that Japan should avoid engaging in too much fiscal austerity
- Said emerging markets are going too slowly in adopting free-floating currencies
Added: More at Reuters, here, and at the Wall Street Journal (gated) here
