SENATE BILL WOULD ALLOW US TO INTERVENE IN CURRENCY MARKETS

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Senate leaders are close to finalising legislation that they hope will lead to a reversal of long-standing US policy of opposing intervention in currency markets, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Senate bill is to be introduced in the next month and will mandate the US Treasury to intervene in global markets if currencies become fundamentally “misaligned”, people involved in the process said.

The consensus in Congress in favour of currency legislation hardened after talks with China led by Hank Paulson, the Treasury secretary, failed to secure big concessions on trade and foreign exchange imbalances.

The bill has not been finalised but details are emerging as Democrats and Republicans seek to build a veto-proof majority. The legislation is an attempt by a bipartisan coalition of Senate leaders to correct what they view as tactical and strategic failures in US international economic policy over the past decade.

For four years the Bush administration has opposed intervention in currency markets as part of an attempt to isolate and pressure China into embracing exchange-rate flexibility.

But congressional leaders now believe that effort has failed to sway Beijing and has inhibited co-ordinated policy action through the Group of Seven industrialised nations over other weak currencies such as the yen.




知情人士表示，美国参议院领袖即将敲定一项立法提案，他们希望这项立法将逆转美国长期以来反对干预外汇市场的政策。

知情人士表示，参议院将于下月提出这项法案。该法案将授权美国财政部在汇率出现根本性“失调”时，对全球市场进行干预。

由于在美国财长汉克•保尔森(Hank Paulson)发起的中美战略经济对话中，美国未能在贸易和汇率失衡方面获得（中国方面的）重大让步，美国国会在汇率立法方面的共识强化起来。
该法案尚未最终敲定，但具体内容已经出炉，民主党和共和党希望取得多数议员的支持，防止该法案遭到否决。这项立法是由参议院领导人组成的两党联盟的一次努力，试图修正他们眼中美国国际经济政策过去10年来在战术和战略上的失误。

4年来，作为孤立中国并向中国施加压力、要求其接受弹性汇率努力的一部分，布什政府一直反对外汇市场干预。然而，国会领导人现在认为，这种努力未能对中国政府造成影响，同时也限制了通过七国集团(G7)对日元等其它疲弱货币采取的联合政策行动。