Samson: America classifies China as a currency manipulator for the first time in decades
6th August 2019
US Treasury Secretary Stephen Menuchin said in a statement that the US government has decided to consider China manipulative in its currency and will engage with the International Monetary Fund to eliminate unfair competition by Beijing
The move has further aggravated the already tense relations between the two countries and is in fulfillment of President Donald Trump’s pledge to label China as a currency manipulator for the first time since 1994
The US move comes after China allowed its yuan to drop below seven against the dollar on Monday for the first time in more than a decade. Beijing later said it would stop buying US farm produce, a major escalation in a nearly year-old trade war with the United States
The sharp 1.4 percent drop in the yuan came days after Trump abruptly imposed a 10 percent tariff on imports from China worth $ 300 billion on Thursday, triggering a shock to financial markets after a brief truce in their trade war
The news pushed the dollar sharply lower while supporting gold
The US Treasury said a statement by the People’s Bank of China on Monday made it clear that Chinese authorities exercised extensive control over the yuan’s exchange rate
The People’s Bank of China said it would “continue to take necessary and targeted measures against (herd behavior) that may occur in the foreign exchange market
“This is an explicit acknowledgment by the People’s Bank of China that he has extensive experience in currency manipulation and that he is still prepared to do so continuously,” the US Treasury said
China had violated an obligation to refrain from devaluing for the purpose of influencing competition within the G20
Once a country has been classified as a currency manipulator, the Treasury is obliged to call for private talks to correct undervalued currency, including sanctions
The ministry designated Taiwan and South Korea as currency manipulators in 1988, the year Congress passed the Currency Review Act. China was the last country to be further classified in 1994 LINK
Samson: Senior US official: Trump is still looking for a deal with China
2019/8/18 18:11
Trump has kept the doors open for changes to new tariffs he plans to impose on Chinese goods if talks go well with China, top White House adviser Larry Kudlow said. “Trump is still planning to host the Chinese delegation in September to continue the talks,” Kudlo said during an interview with CNBC. “Trump wants to make a deal with China,” he said, adding that it should be “correct.”
The US official stressed that Washington is not currently considering any steps to respond to China’s devaluation of the yuan to support its exports. The comments came after trade tensions between Beijing and Washington intensified in recent days, after Trump announced a plan to impose 10 percent new tariffs on Chinese goods worth $ 300 billion.
China met the Trump Declaration with a strong response and said it would stop importing agricultural products from the United States. The yuan was also down against the dollar on Monday to an 11-year low as a retaliatory measure, despite China’s central bank’s denial. LINK
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Samson: The World Bank Representative visits the headquarters of the Association of Iraqi Private Banks in Kurdistan
6th August, 2019
The representative of the World Bank, the legal expert Ghar Al-Qastalani, who is responsible for the economic empowerment program for women in Iraq, visited the headquarters of the Association of Iraqi Private Banks in Erbil
She also attended the Supreme Council for Women’s Affairs in Kurdistan and Omar Wadee, a member of the Board of Directors of Al Mahatta Foundation for Entrepreneurship
The two sides discussed ways of cooperation between the World Bank and the Association of Iraqi Private Banks to achieve the objectives of this program, which is to increase the percentage of women’s labor force by 5 percentage points by 2024
Cooperation between the Association, the Government of the Territory and the World Bank will be carried out on the implementation of certain activities related to women’s economic empowerment
Prof. Wadih al-Handal confirmed that one of the priorities of the Association’s work with the strategic partner of the Central Bank of Iraq is the empowerment of women through the Community Initiatives Fund “Tamkeen” financed by private banks and exchange companies
He stressed the need for coordination between the team of the World Bank and the World Bank to conduct workshops and seminars and training courses aimed at creating employment opportunities and awareness of the public and private sectors
Ms. Gram praised the role of the Association and the main sponsor of the Central Bank of Iraq through initiatives and programs to serve the banking sector and the possibility of launching a lending initiative aimed at women and work on a joint partnership between the World Bank and the Association of Banks for future work LINK
