G8 Ignores Currencies

Leading up to last week’s G8 summit in Japan, it was rumored that "volatility" in forex markets would be a hot topic of discussion. Thus, it came as quite a shock to analysts and investors that the final declaration failed to name any specific currencies. Politicians, especially those representing EU member states, seemed equally surprised. Many of them had hoped to at least come to a rhetorical consensus that the Euro was overvalued relative to the Dollar and Chinese Yuan, and perhaps also the Pound. Given that currencies are evidently not as much of a concern outside the EU, it seems unlikely that any kind of coordinated forex intervention will take place in the near-term. Bloomberg News reports:
Exporters in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, are grappling with the euro’s 15 percent appreciation against the dollar and an 18 percent gain against the pound in the past year. That’s eroding competitiveness just as a U.S.-led global slowdown and record oil prices cool the world economy.