The US Federal Reserve is fuelling âspeculative investmentsâ and endangering global recovery through loose monetary policy, a senior Chinese official warned on Sunday just hours before President Barack Obama arrived in China for his first visit.
Liu Mingkang, Chinaâs chief banking regulator, said that the combination of a weak dollar and low interest rates had encouraged a âhuge carry tradeâ that was having a âmassive impact on global asset pricesâ.
The comments came as China and the US sparred at the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Singapore over exchange rate policies amid rising international criticism that Chinaâs currency is undervalued.
Mr Liuâs unusually blunt remarks underscore how China â the largest US creditor because of its massive holdings of Treasury bonds â has become a trenchant critic of monetary and fiscal policy in the US.
Since the start of the financial crisis, Chinese officials have issued a number of warnings that the US should not inflate away its mounting debt burden. Before these latest comments, however, Beijing had generally been most critical of US fiscal policy, urging Washington to spend less.
But speaking at a conference in Beijing, Mr Liu said the Fedâs policy of maintaining low interest rates together with the weak dollar posed a threat to the global economic recovery.
â[It] is boosting speculative investment in stock and property markets and will pose new, real and insurmountable risks to the global recovery and particularly to the recovery in emerging markets,â said Mr Liu, who is chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission.
âThe situation has already encouraged a huge dollar carry trade and had a massive impact on global asset prices,â he added.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/85f1fac2-d1dc-11de-a0f0-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1
Liu Mingkang, Chinaâs chief banking regulator, said that the combination of a weak dollar and low interest rates had encouraged a âhuge carry tradeâ that was having a âmassive impact on global asset pricesâ.
The comments came as China and the US sparred at the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Singapore over exchange rate policies amid rising international criticism that Chinaâs currency is undervalued.
Mr Liuâs unusually blunt remarks underscore how China â the largest US creditor because of its massive holdings of Treasury bonds â has become a trenchant critic of monetary and fiscal policy in the US.
Since the start of the financial crisis, Chinese officials have issued a number of warnings that the US should not inflate away its mounting debt burden. Before these latest comments, however, Beijing had generally been most critical of US fiscal policy, urging Washington to spend less.
But speaking at a conference in Beijing, Mr Liu said the Fedâs policy of maintaining low interest rates together with the weak dollar posed a threat to the global economic recovery.
â[It] is boosting speculative investment in stock and property markets and will pose new, real and insurmountable risks to the global recovery and particularly to the recovery in emerging markets,â said Mr Liu, who is chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission.
âThe situation has already encouraged a huge dollar carry trade and had a massive impact on global asset prices,â he added.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/85f1fac2-d1dc-11de-a0f0-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1