US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday said he had no particular worry about the dollar’s value “in the short term”, a day after he sent the US currency plummeting by appearing to back a weaker greenback.
“I thought my comment on the dollar was actually quite clear yesterday… we are not concerned with where the dollar is in the short term, it is a very liquid market and we believe in free currencies,” he told journalists at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
“We believe in free currencies and that there are advantages and disadvantages where the dollar is in the short term. So I thought that was clear,” the former Goldman Sachs banker said.
He added that over time for dollar, “the long term reflects the strength in the US economy “.
The dollar was relatively stable in European trading Thursday morning after taking a battering on the back of Mnuchin’s comments Wednesday, with analysts suggesting it looked part of the Trump administration’s “America First” policy to help US exporters.
Mnuchin also defended the White House’s tough talk on trade, which he said was consistent with its long-term agenda.
“We are not looking to get into trade wars, on the other hand we are looking to defend America’s interests,” he said.
This came after US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross defended new tariffs and warned Washington would be prepared to fight back in the future against countries it felt had flouted the rules.
Minutes after latest Mnuchin’s comments, at 0845 GMT, the euro was stable at $1.2402.
Source: AFP
