Emerging nations eager for lift-off: RBA

RBA boss Glenn Stevens has answered question on US plans to start lifting interest rates and the future of China's currency during a forum in London.

Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens says many emerging countries are ready for the United States to start raising interest rates and would like "lift-off" to happen sooner rather than later.

It's expected the US Federal Reserve will later this year begin raising interest rates for the first time in almost a decade.

Mr Stevens, speaking at the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum in London on Tuesday, said he was reluctant to give gratuitous advice to emerging markets.

But he noted that the so-called taper tantrum of 2013 had served as a wake-up call for many to get their houses in better order "and they have".

"In a number of countries in what you'd call the emerging world they understood that, they've been strengthening their fundamentals as best they can, and they are probably now in a much better place to manage as lift-off happens," the RBA boss said.

"The term lift-off of course connotes a vertically rising rocket, but I don't think it's going to be that vertical.

"It will likely be gradual. But the emerging countries are as well-placed as they can be and many of them would probably be happy for it to happen sooner rather than later at this point."

That's because, Mr Stevens said, uncertainty would be lessened once the US Federal Reserve finally took action.

"Then the focus would shift onto the slope and that's something the Fed would also be highly cognisant of and will no doubt carefully manage."

Mr Stevens also predicted China's RMB would be a leading currency within decades.

"I don't think there is any doubt that the RMB is already on its way to becoming a very important global currency," he said when quizzed on the issue.

"It's being used to trade settlement between China and other countries - that is as yet small but growing quickly."

Mr Steven noted China was going to be "a very large economy" and like other large economies their businesspeople would want to say "you use our currency if you want to deal with us".

"Perfectly sensible," the governor said.

"(But) for it to fully flower in the way the dollar did, presumably one needs to get to the point where the holders of RMB can do whatever they choose with them like you can with the dollar.

"That's not the case yet but they're moving in that direction and I'd be very surprised if in a decade or two from now we don't see the RMB as a very, very important ... transaction currency."


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Source: AAP


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