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Policy-makers are watching the dollar closely even though its decline has not been disorderly to date, a top Federal Reserve official said on Monday.
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AP |
Richard Fisher, president of the Dallas Fed, argued that he was aware the central bank's commitment to keep interest rates low for a long time has the potential to fuel unwanted speculative activity in currency markets.
"Thus far we haven't seen it," Fisher said.
Last week, he said he expected Fed officials and other supervisory authorities to address the issue if selling became more frantic.
His comments echoed remarks made by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.
Speaking in New York, Bernanke made his most direct remarks on the currency to date, saying he was "attentive to the implications of changes in the value of the dollar." Despite such comments, which some analysts viewed as an attempt to jawbone the currency higher, the dollar hit a fresh 15-month on Monday against a basket of major currencies, and was trading above $1.50 per euro.
Pronouncements on exchange rates are relatively rare for the central bank, which usually leaves such issues to the U.S. Treasury.
"Bernanke allocated a whole paragraph in his speech to foreign exchange, which is unusual and really highlights that there must be a tremendous pressure there," said Camilla Sutton, senior currency strategist at Scotia Capital in Toronto.
Rising government borrowing, aimed at supporting a record $1.75 trillion budget deficit this year, is one of the reasons behind the dollar's misfortunes.
Fisher said he was surprised the "significant" increase in debt issuance, which has spiked sharply in recent months, had not yet lifted borrowing costs more rapidly.
"Rates are lower than I would have expected them to be," Fisher said.
"We'll see how long that continues." Fisher said the economic recovery would likely be slow, adding that the originally-reported 3.5 percent rate of third quarter annualized gross domestic product growth would likely be revised lower.
"I'm willing to venture that growth was not as robust as originally reported," Fisher told a group of executives at a Texas conference.
He added that revisions would probably bring the annualized growth rate of gross domestic product closer to 2.5 percent or a little bit above that.
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