(Overnight) RBA's Harper - AUD recent surge threatens to hit the economy hard

Reserve Bank board member Ian Harper comments reported in the Australian press overnight

ICYMI!

Harper expressing some of the Reserve Bank of Australia concern over the strong Australian dollar:

• AUD's recent surge is due almost entirely to a loss of confidence in the US dollar
• Threatens to hit the economy hard if the trend is not reversed soon
• "The nature of this appreciation is marked by US dollar weakness across the board"
  "It's clear (this) is not specific to the Australian economy.
  "You'd have to say the real economy in the US is staging a quite remarkable recovery. You would expect that would lead to a stronger US dollar, which was beginning to let off a bit of steam for the US economy.
  "Why might that be occurring? A lot of that has to do with confidence."

Link is here for more: Loss of confidence in greenback powers Aussie dollar's rise

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Harper putting into words the frustrations of the RBA (and other central banks) on the impact of draining confidence in the US despite the signs of improvement for its economy, and the impact that is having on currencies.

I've said many times that I thought Brexit was the best currency war weapon I'd seen ... but that seems to be superseded by developments in the US.

ps. We'll be getting plenty more frpm the Reserve Bank of Australia today - Reserve Bank of Australia Statement on Monetary Policy (SoMP) is due Friday at 11.30am Sydney time (0130GMT)