“BEIJING—The president of China’s giant sovereign-wealth fund warned Japan against using its neighbors as a “garbage bin” by deliberately devaluing the yen, joining a growing number of Chinese officials sounding alarms about a potential currency war.
“I would hope that it doesn’t do that as a responsible government,” Gao Xiqing, president of China Investment Corp., said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. He was responding to questions about worries among some finance ministers and central bankers that the new Japanese government would devalue its currency to boost exports at other countries’ expense.
“Treating the neighbors as your garbage bin and starting a currency war would not only be dangerous for others but eventually be bad for yourself,” Mr. Gao said on the sidelines of the annual meeting of China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress.
Japanese policy makers, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, have stressed that the Bank of Japan’s monetary easing measures are aimed at beating deflation, not weakening its currency.
“BOJ’s monetary policy is not at all targeted at pushing down the currency,” Mr. Abe’s pick for the new BOJ governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, said on Monday at a parliamentary confirmation hearing. “By taking a bold monetary easing policy and exiting deflation as soon as possible, that’s something good not only for Japan, but for the economies of Asia and the rest of the world.” …”
If you enjoy the content at iBankCoin, please follow us on Twitter
