NEW YORK – The U.S. monetary authorities did not intervene in the foreign exchange markets during the April – June quarter, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said today in its quarterly report to the U.S. Congress.
In the second quarter of 2017, the U.S. dollar, as measured by the Federal Reserve Board’s trade-weighted major currencies index, declined 3.7 percent. The depreciation of the dollar reversed much of the strengthening that had occurred following the U.S. election, and came amid uncertainty regarding the implementation of expansionary U.S. fiscal policy, below-consensus domestic economic data, and international developments. The dollar depreciated 6.8 percent against the euro and 3.8 percent against the British pound, though it appreciated 0.9 percent against the Japanese yen. The dollar also depreciated against most emerging market currencies during the quarter, including by 3.2 percent against the Mexico peso and 1.5 percent against the Chinese renminbi, driven in part by improving global economic data amid low financial market volatility.
The report was presented by Simon Potter, executive vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Federal Open Market Committee’s manager for the System Open Market Account, on behalf of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve System.
The full report is available on the New York Fed’s website.
