Stevens suddenly speaks out against FX manipulation
More than any central banker in the world outside of Switzerland, the RBA's Glenn Stevens is obsessed with foreign exchange. In virtually every speech over the past three years he's tried to talk down the Australian dollar. He often threatened to intervene.
Today he's in New York and pretending to be someone else.
"Central banks should target growth, not exchange rates," he said.
What a farce.
Meanwhile, he's also touching on China and said officials have tiled their macro policies to be more supportive and that there has been some progress in domestic growth efforts.
One thing Stevens deserves credit for is opening an office in China in an attempt to get a better understanding of the economy there. Given China's opacity and importance, other central banks should be doing the same.
Update with more comments:
- We've not yet felt all the effects of monetary stimulus
- Central banks should be worried by low growth rates
- Stimulus leading to search for yield
The comment on the coming effect of monetary policy is a slight hint that they're going to wait longer before cutting but the market had already sussed that out.
