US Dollar printing is huge risk - china bank adviser

Friday, 5 November 2010 05:35 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

BEIJING (Reuters) - Unbridled printing of dollars is the biggest risk to the global economy, an adviser to the Chinese central bank said in comments published on Thursday, a day after the Federal Reserve unveiled a new round of monetary easing.

China must set up a firewall via currency policy and capital controls to cushion itself from external shocks, Xia Bin said in a commentary piece in the Financial News, a Chinese-language newspaper managed by the central bank.

“As long as the world exercises no restraint in issuing global currencies such as the dollar -- and this is not easy -- then the occurrence of another crisis is inevitable, as quite a few wise Westerners lament,” he said. The Federal Reserve launched a fresh effort on Wednesday to support the struggling U.S. economy, committing to buy $600 billion (372 billion pounds) in government bonds despite concerns the programme could do more harm than good.

Wang Zihong, a U.S.-focussed economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a top government think tank, said the quantitative easing could add to inflationary concerns in China.

“It will put pressure on the dollar to weaken, thus pushing up global commodity prices, including oil. So it will increase imported inflation pressure in some countries, including China,” he said.

But he dismissed suggestions that China might sell some of its vast stock of U.S. Treasuries as a way of punishing the United States and cutting Beijing’s exposure to dollars.

“This is an emotional proposal. What will China buy after selling Treasuries? Do we have any idea? No, we are unable to think out an idea,” Wang said.

WHAT IS GOOD FOR US?

Xia, the central bank adviser, said that it will take a long time for the global monetary system to improve and that China must be ready to hold the line on its currency policy and capital controls.

“We must keep a clear mind. We must not lead the world in financial regulation, nor simply follow the deeds of mature economies. We must think ‘what is good for us’,” he said.

China already has a regime of tight capital controls in place, limiting its vulnerability to the wave of liquidity that analysts say U.S. easing could push towards emerging markets.

By closely managing the yuan’s exchange rate, Beijing has also been able to blunt appreciation pressure in the face of a weakening dollar.

To better coordinate its policies, China should establish a team in charge of broad economic and financial supervision above its current network of financial regulators, Xia said.

As an academic adviser on the central bank’s monetary policy committee, Xia does not have decision-making powers but does provide input to the policy-making process.