Archived IMT (2009.06.14)

The importance of this weekend's G8 meeting may have been diminished by the absence of US Treas Sec Geithner. Since none of the central bankers was present, no official communique on currencies was established. IMF Chief Strauss-Khans statements that he did not see a "weak dollar" may lead to interpretations that the recent dollar decline is of no concern, which could only pressure the currency further. But Russia's finance minister appeared to temper the situation by saying there were no immediate plans to switch to new reserve currency despite Russia's plans to cut some of its exposure to US treasuries.