U.S. gov't delays currency report

The U.S. government Saturday announced to delay a report to Congress on international economic and exchange rate policies which was originally scheduled on April 15, according to a statement released by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.

"I have decided to delay publication of the report to Congress on the international economic and exchange rate policies of our major trading partners due on April 15," Geithner said.

He said there were better venues to advance U.S. interests and did not give a date for the release of the report.

"There are a series of very important high-level meetings over the next three months that will be critical to bringing about policies that will help create a stronger, more sustainable, and more balanced global economy," the statement said.

Those meetings include a Group of 20 (G20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Washington later this month, the Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) with China in May, and the G20 Finance Ministers and Leaders meetings in June.

"I believe these meetings are the best avenue for advancing U.S. interests at this time," said Geithner.

He noted that policy adjustments are needed to ensure global economic growth.

The U.S. need to increase private savings, reduce current account deficit and cut fiscal deficit.

Countries with large external surpluses and floating exchange rates face the challenge of encouraging more robust growth of domestic demand, while surplus economies with inflexible exchange rates need to move to greater exchange rate flexibility, he said.

Geithner said the U.S. government's objective is to use the opportunity presented by the G20 and S&ED meetings with China to make material progress in the coming months.

Source:Xinhua