KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia remains on the US Treasury’s currency monitoring list, along with Taiwan, Thailand and India.
Reuters yesterday reported that the move is a parting shot from the Donald Trump administration to complicate matters for incoming president Joe Biden and his team.
The US Treasury said others on the list are China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Italy and Singapore.
It said these countries may be deliberately devaluing their currencies against the US dollar.
The Treasury also labelled Vietnam and Switzerland currency manipulators.
Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a statement said the Treasury “has taken a strong step today to safeguard economic growth and opportunity for American workers and businesses”.
Reuters said countries must have at least a US$20 billion bilateral trade surplus with the US, foreign currency intervention exceeding 2% of gross domestic product, and a global current account surplus exceeding 2% of GDP to be labelled a manipulator.
Last year, Bank Negara Malaysia said the country’s inclusion in the monitoring list of potential currency manipulators will not have consequences to the national economy.
“The Malaysian economy remains resilient, underpinned by strong economic fundamentals, including the flexibility accorded by a floating exchange rate and strong external balance.”
The inclusion came with no immediate penalty. – The Vibes, December 17, 2020
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