China blamed for Asian forex distortions
US experts say
Afp, Washington
A decade ago, China was hailed Asia's saviour for stoutly defending its currency peg to the US dollar and containing the region's worst financial crisis. Today, it is accused of taking virtually all of Asia out of the global foreign exchange mechanism.By aggressively intervening in the market to keep its yuan currency undervalued and its exports less expensive, Beijing is preventing most other Asian economies, from Japan to India, from letting their currencies rise against the dollar, US experts said in a new book to be released in Washington. The mostly export-driven Asian economies fear allowing their currencies to appreciate in line with market forces would deprive them of their competitive position against China, the experts said in the publication "China: The Balance Sheet -- What the World Needs to Know About the Emerging Superpower." "Hence China's currency policy has taken virtually all of Asia out of the international adjustment process," Fred Bergsten, co-author and head of the Washington-based Institute of International Economics, told reporters.
|
|
