WASHINGTON (MNI) – The following is are excerpts of a transcript
from the ongoing news conference with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben
Bernanke, in which he says a strong dollar is in the interest of the
U.S. and of the global economy:
Q3 – REPORTER: Mr. Chairman, first thanks for doing this. This is a
tremendous development. There are critics who say that Fed policy has
driven down the value of the dollar and lower value to the dollar
reduces American standard of living. How do you respond to the criticism
that essentially Fed policy reduced the American standard of living?
I’ll start by saying the secretary of the Treasury is the
spokesperson for the dollar and Secretary (Timothy) Geitner had some
words yesterday. Let me add to what he said first by saying that the
Federal Reserve believes that a strong and stable dollar is both in
American interest and in the interest of the global economy.
There are many factors that cause the dollar to move up and down
over short periods of time. Over the medium term where our policy is
aimed, we are doing two things.
First, we are trying to maintain low and stable inflation by our
definition of price stability by maintaining the purchasing value of the
dollar, keeping inflation low. That’s obviously good for the dollar.
The second thing we are trying to accomplish is get a stronger
recovery (…).
Again, a strong economy growing with attracting foreign capital
will be good for the dollar.
In our view, if we do what is needed to pursue our dual mandate of
price stability and maximum employment that will also generate
fundamentals that will help the dollar in the medium term.
** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
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