Experts say the world has been awash with currency wars for some time, as one central bank after another turns to easing in an effort to wake up their somnolent economies.
And the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is ratcheting up the fighting, says Nouriel Roubini, an economist at New York University.
"[Its] recent decision to increase the scope of its quantitative easing is a signal that another round of currency wars may be underway," he writes in an article for
Project Syndicate.
"The BOJ’s effort to weaken the yen is a beggar-thy-neighbor approach that is inducing policy reactions throughout Asia and around the world."
Central banks across Asia are turning on the stimulus spigots so they don't lose trade competitiveness to Japan, Roubini says. Monetary easing often weakens a country's currency, which in turn boosts exports by making them cheaper in foreign currency terms.
The European Central Bank is intensifying its stimulus too.
"All of this will lead to a strengthening of the U.S. dollar, as growth in the United States is picking up and the Federal Reserve has signaled that it will begin raising interest rates next year," Roubini writes.
But weak global growth and excessive dollar strength might push the Fed to raise rates more slowly, he says.
One country that will likely stay out of the currency wars is China, says Morgan Stanley economist Chetan Ahya.
"We do not expect China to use the renminbi as a policy tool to support growth. The currency is likely to remain stable in the years ahead with a mild appreciation bias, we believe," he writes in
Barron's.
"Real [interest] rate differentials are supportive of the renminbi, and, as per our forecasts, real rate differentials are unlikely to narrow significantly in the coming 12 to 18 months."
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