USD: Intervention to weaken unlikely, but cannot be ruled out – ABN AMRO

Analysts at ABN AMRO note that the US exchange rate policy has been in the spotlight recently, and US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin was quizzed on the topic in a post-G7 finance minister meeting press briefing this afternoon.

Key Quotes

“In his remarks, Mr Mnuchin confirmed that there is no change to the US administration’s dollar policy ‘as of now’, although he did not rule anything out either, stating ‘this is something we could consider in the future’. This followed a tweet by President Trump on 3 July hinting at currency intervention, when he said the US should ‘match’ China and Europe who he accused of ‘playing [a] big currency manipulation game’.”

“We judge that unilateral intervention to weaken the dollar by the US authorities is unlikely, as that there is little chance of it being effective, but given the erratic moves of the administration it is not something we would dismiss outright.”