Il Giappone respinge le accuse di manipolazioni valutarie
HARRIET TORRY e WILLIAM BOSTON
– Forum economico di Davos: evocato dalla Cancelliera tedesca Merkel il rischio di una guerra monetaria internazionale scatenata dalla politica di svalutazione monetaria, di Giappone e Usa soprattutto, per favorire l’export ed aumentare la propria competitività internazionale, guerra monetaria che potrebbe causare il caos nell’economia mondiale, in un momento di relativa calma per l’Europa.
– La questione della svalutazione competitiva rischia di riaprire il dibattito nella UE sul ruolo della BCE, il cui unico mandato è quello della lotta all’inflazione, già causa di tensioni tra le potenze europee durante la crisi del debito;
– diversi paesi europei vorrebbero assegnare alla BCE il ruolo di promozione della crescita economica.
– La Germania è sull’orlo di una recessione, e conta sulla domanda internazionale, soprattutto dall’Asia e dai paesi emergenti dell’America Latina per compensare il calo della domanda in Europa.
– Il nuovo governo del Giappone preme sulla Banca centrale giapponese perché allenti la politica monetaria, fissando l’inflazione al 2% (doppio di quella attuale) per svalutare lo yen e facilitare l’export, e che potrebbe scatenare una guerra monetaria o una svalutazione competitiva delle valute.
– Da novembre lo yen si è svalutato del 10%.
o Il ministro giapponese Finanze, Taro Aso, respinge le accuse: il recente indebolimento dello yen corregge solo la sua forza eccessiva, per combattere la deflazione .
– Merkel: .. in Germania pensiamo che le banche centrali non sono fatte per correggere le scelte politiche sbagliate e mancanza di competitività. La BCE ha solo dato il tempo ai politici per sistemare la politica economica e fiscale, e rendere competitiva l’economia con le riforme.
– Prima della Merkel avevano attaccato Tokyo e Washington il ministro Finanze tedesco e il presidente di Bundesbank, che ha parlato di politica monetaria aggressiva da parte del Giappone.
– Il primo ministro giapponese Shinzo Abe, che ha vinto le elezioni sula base di un programma di allentamento monetario contro la deflazione e l’eccessivo valore dello yen.
Il governatore della Banca centrale del Sud Corea ha avvertito che dovrà reagire ad una forte svalutazione dello yen, per ridurre gli effetti negativi sull’export: molte imprese manifatturiere sudcoreane competono con quelle giapponesi. Invito sudcoreano al G-20 a discutere nel prossimo vertice di Mosca gli effetti negativi dell’allentamento della politica monetaria in Usa, Europa e Giappone.
Japan Rebuffs Currency Manipulation Claims
By MITSURU OBE And ALEXANDER MARTIN
TOKYO—Japan rejected growing international criticism that it is easing its monetary policy to drive down the yen, with Tokyo’s finance minister on Friday characterizing concerns expressed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel as "misplaced."
– Despite growing claims that Tokyo is resorting to a beggar-thy-neighbor policy of weakening its currency to give its exports a competitive edge, Japanese officials continue to stand by their position that the yen’s recent weakening is a correction from its excessive strength.
– "The criticism of currency manipulation is misplaced," Finance Minister Taro Aso said at a news conference, referring to Ms. Merkel’s comments. "Monetary policy easing by the Bank of Japan is aimed at lifting the country out of deflation early."
– On Thursday, the German leader voiced concern that Japan was resorting to easy monetary policy to weaken the yen. Her comments came after the BOJ, in response to strong political pressure, decided on Tuesday to adopt a 2% inflation target and to embark on an open-ended easing policy from next year.
– "I don’t want to say that I look toward Japan completely without concern at the moment," Ms. Merkel said, adding that, "in Germany, we believe that central banks are not there to clean up bad policy decisions and a lack of competitiveness."
– Ms. Merkel’s comment is the latest in a string of remarks by officials of other nations expressing concern that the policies of the new Japanese government led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may trigger a currency war or a competitive devaluation of currencies.
– Mr. Abe came into power in late December after winning a landslide general election on a platform calling for aggressive monetary easing to beat both deflation and the yen’s persistent strength. The yen has depreciated over 10% since November when Mr. Abe embarked on his campaign.
But his finance minister said the yen’s slide was a justified move given how strong it has been. "My understanding is that we’re in a phase where the one-way, excessive strength of the yen until now, is being corrected," Mr. Aso said.
– Officials in Seoul have warned that they may have to take in response to a weaker yen. Many South Korea manufacturers compete against Japanese firms.
– Bank of Korea Gov. Kim Choong-soo said last week that a sharp drop in the yen could provoke an "active response to minimize any negative impacts on exports," while Seoul’s Vice Finance Minister Shin Je-yoon urged G-20 nations to discuss the adverse effects of monetary easing in the U.S., Europe and Japan when the group meets in Moscow next month.
Amid their rejection of the criticism, some Japanese officials are also seeking to allay overseas concerns.
Economy minister Akira Amari said Friday that he wants to resolve such concerns when he speaks at the annual World Economic Forum summit of executives and policy makers in Davos, Switzerland, where Ms. Merkel also made her remarks.
"[Ms. Merkel] seems to have made careful comments that she wasn’t completely ‘worry free’," Mr. Amari said. "But I’d like to explain our position [at Davos] so there won’t be any worries at all."
Write to Mitsuru Obe at mitsuru.obe@dowjones.com and Alexander Martin at alexander.martin@dowjones.com
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Merkel Takes a Swipe at Japan Over Yen
German Chancellor Uses Davos Speech to Say ‘Central Banks Are Not There to Clean Up Bad Policy Decisions’
By HARRIET TORRY And WILLIAM BOSTON
– German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday stepped into a growing debate over the threat of a global currency war, taking a swipe at Japan’s recent moves to weaken the yen and warning that political leaders must not use central banks to clean up their policy mistakes.
– Weighing into the discussion at the annual World Economic Forum summit of executives and policy makers in Davos, Switzerland, Ms. Merkel echoed the increasing concern in Germany that some countries, most notably Japan and the U.S., are using monetary policy as a way to enhance their economic competitiveness.
"I don’t want to say that I look towards Japan completely without concern at the moment," she said, adding that, "In Germany, we believe that central banks are not there to clean up bad policy decisions and a lack of competitiveness."
– The comments were unusually blunt for the typically understated German leader, underscoring concern in Germany that a global currency war would wreak havoc on the world economy just as Europe appears calmer after the upheaval caused by the euro-zone debt crisis. Germany, the economic motor in Europe, is teetering on the edge of recession.
– Germany relies on demand from the global economy, especially Asia and emerging markets in Latin America, to offset slumping demand in Europe.
– The recently-elected Japanese government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is trying to end years of chronic deflation and recession by putting the Bank of Japan under pressure to weaken the yen as a way to boost exports. Japan’s new government is pressing the Bank of Japan to set a 2% inflation target, double its current objective. Raising inflation makes its currency cheaper, causing the prices on Japanese goods outside the country to fall.
– Moves to weaken the yen set off alarms in Germany, where policy makers fear an all-out exchange-rate war could undermine efforts in Europe to fix broken fiscal policies that led to the euro zone debt crisis. They also fear that "competitive devaluation" could fuel a debate in Europe about the role of the European Central Bank. The ECB’s sole inflation-fighting mandate came under intense scrutiny during the euro-zone debt crisis.
– Speaking in Davos, Ms. Merkel said the ECB had moved to the "edge of its mandate" in efforts to support weakened euro-zone economies by buying their bonds.
– She said the ECB had rightly "set limits" to its actions, requiring fiscal reform as conditionality for its willingness to weigh into the crisis. But many European leaders see the ECB’s mandate as too narrow and would like to empower the central bank to be able to do more to promote growth in the euro-zone economy.
Against this backdrop, German policy makers are calling on governments in the U.S. and Japan to fix their fiscal policy rather than resort to throwing on the printing presses at their central banks.
– Last week, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble lashed out at Tokyo and Washington in a speech in the Bundestag, or lower house of the German parliament. He suggested that while the world points the finger at the euro zone, Japan and the U.S. through monetary policy easing are pouring excessive liquidity into global financial markets and creating new risks to the global economy.
– Jens Weidmann, president of the Bundesbank, Germany’s influential central bank, warned Japan in a speech on Monday not to politicize exchange rates by pursuing an overly aggressive monetary policy.
"Until now, the international monetary system has come through the crisis without a race to devaluation, and I really hope that it stays that way," Mr. Weidmann said.
Japan rejects accusations it is engineering a weaker yen and stirring a global currency war. In an interview Thursday, Vice Finance Minister Takehiko Nakao said the government’s moves are aimed at tackling the country’s persistent deflation, not competitively devaluing the yen to stir exports.
– In Europe, Ms. Merkel said, the ECB has only been used to buy time for policy makers to fix fiscal and economic policies and make their economies competitive through reform. Europe still needs to address its weaknesses and overcome the scourge of youth unemployment, the worst legacy of the region’s economic and debt crisis.
"If Europe is in a difficult situation today," she said, "we must implement structural reforms today so we can live better tomorrow."
Write to Harriet Torry at harriet.torry@dowjones.com and William Boston at william.boston@dowjones.com
Copyright 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit