NEW YORK – The Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury did not intervene in foreign exchange markets during the April – June 2018 quarter, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said today in its quarterly report to the U.S. Congress.
In the second quarter of 2018, the U.S. dollar, as measured by the Federal Reserve Board’s trade-weighted major currencies index, appreciated 4.2 percent in the second quarter of 2018. The dollar was viewed as being driven by a variety of factors, including wider U.S. interest rate differentials compared to other major economies, decelerating momentum in non-U.S. economic growth, elevated European political risks, and rising financial market volatility across a number of emerging markets. Among major currencies, the dollar appreciated 5.5 percent against the euro, 4.2 percent against the Japanese yen, and 6.1 percent against the British pound. The dollar also appreciated against most emerging market currencies, including 9.5 percent against the Mexican peso and 5.5 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.
