NEW YORK – The Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury did not intervene in the foreign exchange markets during the October – December 2017 quarter, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said today in its quarterly report to the U.S. Congress.
In the fourth quarter of 2017, the U.S. dollar, as measured by the Federal Reserve Board’s trade-weighted major currencies index, depreciated 0.7 percent. This modest depreciation came against a backdrop of rising U.S. interest rates relative to those of other advanced economies and the passage of U.S. tax reform, which market participants had previously speculated could support dollar appreciation. The dollar depreciated 1.6 percent against the euro and 0.9 percent against the British pound, but was little changed against the Japanese yen. The dollar was mixed against emerging market currencies, appreciating 7.7 percent against the Mexican peso while depreciating 2.2 percent against the Chinese renminbi.
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.
