US Treasury Spurns China
During his confirmation hearings, Treasury Secretary Geithner indicated that the Obama administration consensus is that China is manipulating the Yuan. China predictably refuted the charges, and indicated that it will not be bullied into submission by the US when managing its currency. Thus began a heated back-and-forth between US and Chinese economic officials, with the forex markets caught awkwardly in the middle. Geithner apparently doesn’t realize that his position also carries important diplomatic responsibilities, namely helping the US government to pay its bills by ensuring a steady demand for US Treasury securities abroad. Offending the most reliable foreign lender, accordingly, is probably not the best strategy to fulfilling this role. Moreover, Geithner’s testimony couldn’t have occurred at a worse time, given the planned expansion of US debt and the simultaneous leveling off of China’s forex reserves. The implications for the Dollar couldn’t be clearer. China has been a major purchaser of America’s official debt in recent years. If it were to stop…Geithner would likely find his Treasury paper having to offer higher yields to draw investors, putting new pressure on the American budget.
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Posted on January 29, 2009
at 12:04 pm
Written / posted by: Simon
Filed under: News