The U.S. denied that President Barack Obama told fellow Group of Seven leaders the strong dollar is a problem, saying that he made a different point about the need to promote growth including by means of monetary policy.
“The president did not state that the strong dollar was a problem,” the White House said in a statement Monday. “He made a point that he has made previously a number of times: that global demand is too weak and that G-7 countries need to use all policy instruments, including fiscal policy as well as structural reforms and monetary policy, to promote growth.”
Earlier on Monday, a French government official with knowledge of the G-7 discussions at Schloss Elmau in southern Germany said that geopolitical risks including Greece create volatility on financial markets, affecting interest rates and currencies.
In that context, Obama had said that the strong dollar posed a problem, according to the official, who asked not to be named because the discussions were private.
The dollar was down 0.2 percent to $1.1140 per euro at 9:18 a.m. London time, after earlier falling 0.6 percent. Before the French official’s comments, the currency was as much as 0.3 percent higher.
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