美財長呼籲IMF對匯率操縱國更強硬

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.

美國財政部長傑克•盧(Jack Lew)呼籲國際貨幣基金組織(IMF)發揮更積極的作用，包括監控匯率波動、全球失衡及其成員國在履行提振疲弱全球需求承諾上的失敗。

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.

盧發表了旨在重新確立美國對全球金融體系領導地位的講話，他呼籲“新的機構”，如中國支持的亞洲基礎設施投資銀行(AIIB)，堅守IMF和世界銀行(World Bank)等老牌機構設定的標準。

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.

兩大老牌機構的最大股東發出呼籲之際，各國財長和央行行長本週將匯聚華盛頓出席這兩個機構的春季會議。對於世界經濟復甦乏力的擔憂愈演愈烈，這意味着各方普遍預期IMF今日將下調其對全球經濟今年增長3.4%的預測。

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.

美國財長的言論相當於呼籲IMF對其成員國少講一些外交辭令，轉而更加積極地點名那些操縱匯率以獲得貿易優勢、並實行其他可疑經濟政策的國家。

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.

盧對美國外交關係委員會(Council on Foreign Relations)表示，美國解決了盟友對於美國在某種程度上退出領導角色的擔憂，去年批准了2010年出爐的對IMF股權結構的改革。但他表示，現在是時候向前邁進，“進一步現代化IMF”。他說，尤其是，IMF需要“加強對匯率、經常賬戶失衡和全球總需求不足等關鍵問題的密切關注”。他呼籲提升成員國經濟數據的透明度，特別是在外匯儲備方面。

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.

這番言論傳遞出的信號是，美國對某些匯率走勢的性質以及其他大型經濟體（如中國和德國）對經常賬戶盈餘的管理感到焦慮。

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.

全球化和美國的貿易赤字一直是政治敏感話題，在今年的美國大選中更是成爲中心議題。唐納德•特朗普(Donald Trump)等批評者辯稱，它們的部分驅動因素是中國等對手的匯率操縱行爲。

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.

美國迫切希望看到IMF在報告中更加坦率，並增加其出版物——如監測經常賬戶失衡影響的年度《對外部門報告》——的發表頻率。

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

美國還希望看到IMF加大努力，提升成員國央行儲備管理的透明度。

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.

中國去年開始向IMF報告其官方儲備數據，作爲其整體努力的一部分，目的是讓人民幣被納入用於確定IMF特別提款權(SDR)價值的精英貨幣籃子。

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

然而，儘管那一步受到歡迎，但外界對北京方面在外匯儲備管理上做到完全透明的意願仍有疑問。