【英语财经】美财长呼吁IMF对汇率操纵国更强硬 Lew urges IMF to get tough on exchange rate manipulators

US Treasury secretary Jack Lew has called for the International Monetary Fund to play a more aggressive role in policing exchange rate fluctuations, global imbalances and its members’ failures to live up to commitments to boost ailing global demand.

In a speech aimed at reasserting US leadership over the global financial system, Mr Lew called for “new players” such as the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank to live up to the standards set by established institutions such as the IMF and World Bank.

The call from the two institutions’ biggest shareholder came as finance ministers and central bankers prepare to descend on Washington for their spring meeting this week. Growing concerns about the fragile recovery in the world economy mean that the IMF is widely expected to cut its 3.4 per cent global growth forecast today.

The comments amount to a call for the IMF to be less diplomatic with its members and more active in naming those who engage in currency manipulation to gain trade advantages and other dubious economic policies.

Mr Lew told the Council on Foreign Relations that the US had addressed allies’ concerns that it was somehow withdrawing from its leadership role by moving last year to approve reforms from 2010 to the IMF’s shareholding structure. But it was now time to move forward and “further modernise the IMF”, he said. In particular, it needed to “intensify scrutiny of critical issues like exchange rates, current account imbalances and shortfalls in global aggregate demand”, he said. He called for “greater transparency” about members’ economic data, especially as it relates to foreign reserves.

Mr Lew’s comments signal US anxiety over the nature of some currency movements and the management of current account surpluses by other big economies such as China and Germany.

Globalisation and the US trade deficit have long been politically sensitive topics but have been central in this year’s US presidential campaign. Critics such as Donald Trump argue that they are driven in part by currency manipulation of rivals such as China.

The US is eager to see the IMF be more frank in its reporting and increase the frequency of publications such as its annual “external sector report”, which monitors the impact of current account imbalances.

It also wants to see the IMF step up work on securing greater transparency of members’ management of central bank reserves.

China last year began reporting data to the IMF on its official reserves as part of its bid for the renminbi to join the elite basket of currencies used to determine the IMF’s special drawing rights.

But that step, while welcome, came with continuing questions over Beijing’s willingness to be fully transparent about how it manages its reserves.

美国财政部长杰克?卢(Jack Lew)呼吁国际货币基金组织(IMF)发挥更积极的作用，包括监控汇率波动、全球失衡及其成员国在履行提振疲弱全球需求承诺上的失败。

卢发表了旨在重新确立美国对全球金融体系领导地位的讲话，他呼吁“新的机构”，如中国支持的亚洲基础设施投资银行(AIIB)，坚守IMF和世界银行(World Bank)等老牌机构设定的标准。

两大老牌机构的最大股东发出呼吁之际，各国财长和央行行长本周将汇聚华盛顿出席这两个机构的春季会议。对于世界经济复苏乏力的担忧愈演愈烈，这意味着各方普遍预期IMF今日将下调其对全球经济今年增长3.4%的预测。

美国财长的言论相当于呼吁IMF对其成员国少讲一些外交辞令，转而更加积极地点名那些操纵汇率以获得贸易优势、并实行其他可疑经济政策的国家。

卢对美国外交关系委员会(Council on Foreign Relations)表示，美国解决了盟友对于美国在某种程度上退出领导角色的担忧，去年批准了2010年出炉的对IMF股权结构的改革。但他表示，现在是时候向前迈进，“进一步现代化IMF”。他说，尤其是，IMF需要“加强对汇率、经常账户失衡和全球总需求不足等关键问题的密切关注”。他呼吁提升成员国经济数据的透明度，特别是在外汇储备方面。

这番言论传递出的信号是，美国对某些汇率走势的性质以及其他大型经济体（如中国和德国）对经常账户盈余的管理感到焦虑。

全球化和美国的贸易赤字一直是政治敏感话题，在今年的美国大选中更是成为中心议题。唐纳德?特朗普(Donald Trump)等批评者辩称，它们的部分驱动因素是中国等对手的汇率操纵行为。

美国迫切希望看到IMF在报告中更加坦率，并增加其出版物——如监测经常账户失衡影响的年度《对外部门报告》——的发表频率。

美国还希望看到IMF加大努力，提升成员国央行储备管理的透明度。

中国去年开始向IMF报告其官方储备数据，作为其整体努力的一部分，目的是让人民币被纳入用于确定IMF特别提款权(SDR)价值的精英货币篮子。

然而，尽管那一步受到欢迎，但外界对北京方面在外汇储备管理上做到完全透明的意愿仍有疑问。

译者/和风