US removes Vietnam from currency monitoring list

The U.S. Treasury Department remained satisfied with progress made by the Asian country in addressing U.S. concerns about its currency practices, it said in a semi-annual report Thursday.

India, Italy, Mexico and Thailand were also removed from the list, Reuters quoted the Treasury as saying.

It noted no major U.S. trading partner manipulated its exchange rates to gain unfair competitive advantage through June 2022, but said it would stay in close touch with Switzerland on its currency practices.

Seven economies kept on the list were Japan, China, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore South Korea and Taiwan.

The Treasury report again called out China for its failure to publish foreign exchange intervention and the broader lack of transparency around key features of its exchange-rate mechanism.

A senior Treasury official said efforts by the U.S. Treasury and the International Monetary Fund had failed to make any headway with Beijing on the issue so far.

Treasury noted that Japan had intervened in the foreign exchange market to stem the pace of depreciation in the yen, its first such move since 1998, and underscored its believe that such actions should be taken only rarely.

“Treasury’s firm expectation is that in large, freely traded exchange markets, intervention should be reserved only for very exceptional circumstances with appropriate prior consultations,” it said.