The Obama administration is responding to hopeful signs that China may re-evaluate its currency, the Financial Times reports:
The US Treasury Department is postponing a contentious report on international exchange rates, a move that allows the Obama administration to avoid the delicate question of whether to label China a currency “manipulator”.
The Treasury announcement came after it emerged that Beijing may adjust its policy of pegging its currency to the dollar provided a visit this month by Chinese President Hu Jintao to Washington goes smoothly, according to a top adviser to China’s central bank.
Mr Hu will attend a summit on nuclear security in Washington on April 12-13, which would have been awkward timing ahead of the currency report, originally due on April 15. According to analysts, Mr Hu’s decision to attend the summit, and the administration’s move to delay the currency report, could herald broader co-operation on issues such as Iran.
“I have decided to delay publication of the report to Congress on the international economic and exchange rate policies of our major trading partners due on April 15,” said Tim Geithner, treasury secretary, in a statement on Saturday.
