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Politico:

Geithner ‘open’ to China proposal

by Bill Smith

Geithner, at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the U.S. is “open” to a headline-grabbing proposal by the governor of the China’s central bank, which was widely reported as being a call for a new global currency to replace the dollar, but which Geithner described as more modest and “evolutionary.”

“I haven’t read the governor’s proposal. He’s a very thoughtful, very careful distinguished central banker. I generally find him sensible on every issue,” Geithner said, saying that however his interpretation of the proposal was to increase the use of International Monetary Fund’s special drawing rights — shares in the body held by its members — not creating a new currency in the literal sense.

“We’re actually quite open to that suggestion – you should see it as rather evolutionary rather building on the current architecture rather than moving us to global monetary union,” he said.

“The only thing concrete I saw was expanding the use of the [special drawing rights],” Geithner said. “Anything he’s thinking about deserves some consideration.”

The continued use of the dollar as a reserve currency, he added, “depends..on how effective we are in the United States…at getting our fiscal system back to the point where people judge it as sustainable over time.”

President Obama flatly rejected the notion of a new global currency at last night’s press conference.

UPDATE: Evidently sensing a gaffe, moderator Roger Altman told Geithner that it would be “useful” to retun to the question, and asked if he foresaw a change in the dollar’s centrality.

“I do not,” Geithner said, adding several forceful promises, including, “We will do what’s necessary to say we’re sustaining confidence in our financial markets.”

FX 360:

by Kathy Lien

Updated – A few minutes after saying the U.S. is open to an SDR linked currency, Geithner clarified his comments by saying that there is “no change in dollar as world’s reserve currency and likely to remain so for long time.” In our alert, we said that the dollar would rebound if he attempts to clarify his comments. These contradictory statements are clearly the act of an amateur Treasury Secretary that has been thrust onto the public forum and is struggling with the need to be very particular in his choice of words. Geithner is learning the hard way about the impact that his comments can have on the currency market and despite his attempt to pacify investors, his words have left air of uncertainty in the U.S. dollar.

In a blink of an eye, the U.S. dollar has collapsed against the Euro, Japanese Yen and other major currencies. The trigger was comments from Tim Geithner who said that the U.S. is “quite open” to China’s suggestion of moving towards a Special Drawing Right (SDR) linked currency system. If the world adopts the SDR, which was created by the IMF as an international reserve asset, it would mean that countries around the world would need to hold less U.S. dollars. The U.S. is probably open to this suggestion because a weaker dollar is stimulative for the U.S. economy and would relieve the U.S. from having to implement effective monetary policy while balancing the international demand for a reserve currency.

Geithner’s comments indicate that the U.S. is not taking China’s suggestion with a grain of salt and instead is giving it legitimacy. This is extremely important ahead of the G20 meeting. The only question is whether this is another amateur mistake by the new U.S. Treasury Secretary. When he first took office, he mistakenly threatened to brand China as a currency manipulator, putting his reputation at risk. The dollar will recover its gains if Geithner attempts to clarify his comments. In addition to the comments on China, Geithner also said that the U.S. still has substantial resources left in TARP and that it will take a few months before we can see effects of the mortgage modifications measures.

Last night, President Obama said that the U.S. dollar is strong and there is no need for a global currency.

Obama Talking About the U.S. Dollar and Global Currency (covering Geithner’s Ass)