It’s only March but the hypocrite of the year award must surely go to the Office of the U.S. Executive Director (OUSED) to the International Monetary Fund. A US Treasury report to Congress details concern expressed by the OUSED to the IMF Executive Board about the Reserve Bank of Australia’s attempts to “jawbone” the Australian Dollar lower. OUSED suggests that by doing so Australia may have breached its international commitment to allow the exchange rate to freely find its “market-determined” rate.
The report demonstrates breathtaking audacity when Treasury and the US Fed have been responsible for nearly 8 years of quantitative easing resulting in trillions of US dollars being pumped into the US economy and setting off an unprecedented stretch of currency devaluations which has been widely referred to as a ‘currency war’. It is no secret that all countries are happy to see a lower currency to try and improve export competitiveness and economic growth but notwithstanding this the U.S. position on Australia’s currency is something to behold given their tangible efforts to debase the greenback.
There are still 9 months of the year remaining but it’s hard to see anyone coming close to challenging the OUSED for our inaugural award.