FRANKFURT (AFP) - US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan appeared to be sceptical about the efficacy of any central bank intervention to prop up the dollar.
Central bank intervention generally tended only to have a moderate impact, Greenspan told a European banking congress here.
"Large interventions ... do not create very large increases in exchange rates of a protracted nature," the Fed chairman said, pointing to recent intervention by the Bank of Japan as an example.
That was because of the "high level of sophistication of the markets" which diluted the impact of any interventions, Greenspan explained.
The euro`s surge to more than 1.30 dollars in recent days has led to calls in Europe for concrete action to stem the dollar`s slide, which is hurting exports from the 12-country eurozone and is threatening to put the brakes on economic growth in the region. But so far, US officials have remained deaf to such calls.
German Finance Minister Hans Eichel this week said the US, Europe and Japan shoud try and reach a common position on exchange rates.
But asked whether there should be better coordination between three economic regions on the matter, Greenspan replied: "I don`t think that we should do more. We`re already doing enough."
Greenspan`s comments just as finance ministers and central bank chiefs from the world`s 20 wealthiest nations were gathering in Berlin for a weekend of talks.
11/19/2004 - 17:01 GMT - AFP