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Another Financial Crisis?
By Pauline Yong
23/3/2005
It looks like a currency crisis is looming in the clouds of America with
the U.S. current account deficit racked up to US$665 billion or 5.7% of
GDP in 2004, which is historically high and its budget deficit for 2005
is estimated to be US$412 billion or 3.6% of GDP. In addition, the U.S.
government is in debt by more than US$7 trillion. These and other
factors have combined to put powerful downward pressures on the
dollars. This reminds us of the Asian financial crisis in 1997, where the
Asians have all learned a painful lesson – we were being punished for
borrowing too much! In addition to the gloominess, Alan Greenspan,
the confidence icon, is retiring in less than a year from now and we
do not know who the next successor is.
Indeed, bad news for the dollar, which leads to bad news for interest
rates eventually. It’s also bad news for everyone who depends on the
American consumers for economic growth. According to the trade
data, the U.S. is the largest trading partner for many countries in the
world such as Canada, Mexico, China, Japan, Malaysia and etc. Hence,
if there is ever a financial crisis, the outcome would be more severe
than the Asian financial crisis!
Greenspan, the Federal Reserve Board chairman, 79, has helped steer
the U.S. economy through the crash of 1987, the recession of the early
1990’s, the dot-com bubble and the terrorist attacks of September
11th. He has the magic touch to instill the badly needed “confidence
potion” to the Americans as well as to the rest of the World. In
essence, all eyes are on Greenspan now to fix the ailing gargantuan U.
S. economy. In my view, upon his retirement on 31 January 2006, if
the U.S. current account deficit continues to worsen and the Bush
administration continues to lavish on their spending on warfare and
social security, I’m afraid the U.S. dollar will suffer a stampede cause
by currency speculators and private investors who have lost
confidence in the dollar.
In order to prevent a speculative attack on dollars, the Bush
administration must show to the world that they are determined to
cut down on the twin deficits. It’s a tough job indeed. In the past
three years, with the interest rate was as low as 1%, the U.S.
consumers ruined themselves by spending money they didn’t have on
things they didn’t need. Asians, on the other hand, kept buying the U.
S. public debt, the low yielding bonds, just to keep their “customers”
happy, and to cover the U.S. current account deficit. It’s getting
unhealthy for both parties, as one being suffocating with a mountain
full of debt, the other running into default risk and currency risk.
The U.S. trade deficit with China has been increasing at an
exponential rate. Back in 1988, the U.S. started with a humble trade
deficit of US$3 billion with the Sino. By 2004, the U.S.- Sino trade
deficit soared to a whopping historical high of US$162 billion, which
has doubled from US$83 billion within 3 years since 2001. No
wonder, the U.S. financial authorities have exerted tremendous
pressure on the Chinese to revalue the Chinese yuan, in hope of
slowing the tide of Chinese exports to the U.S.. However, the Chinese
has no intention to revalue the yuan as the strengthening of yuan
would hurt their exports which is the main driver for their economic
growth. Also, the stronger yuan against the greenback would spell
heavy losses for their dollar-denominated assets in their foreign
reserves.
As much as the Bush administration stressed that they want to cut
down on budget deficit, but the fact that he raises the budget for
national defense has caused many mainstream economists spooked.
The estimated spending on national defense for 2005 has soared by
42% to US$465 billion compared to US$265 billion under the Clinton
administration in 1996. Where does the funding come from? From
foreign borrowings, of course, as the Americans have poor savings
habits, they save about 1% of their paycheck compared to 40% in
China. Like what they said, the Americans are borrowing at the
kindness of strangers – the Asian central banks.
No doubt that the Japanese and the Chinese central banks have
amassed more than US$1 trillion in U.S. treasury bonds in their
foreign reserves, which is a quarter of the US$4 trillion U.S. treasury
market (with Japan over US$700 billion and China more than US$400
billion). But, Japan and China would not dump the dollars for two
reasons. First, if they dump the greenback, their dollar-denominated
assets in their foreign reserves will be affected immediately. Last
year, Japan lost more than US$100 billion in dollar reserves as
compared to holding euros. Second, Asia’s economies still depend
heavily on exports to the U.S. for economic growth and employments.
If the dollars depreciated too much, the U.S. Federal Reserve will
have no choice but to raise interest rates at a faster pace to defend the
dollars. And this will slow the U.S. investment and consumption
spending rapidly which likely to initiate a sharp recession there and
abroad.
Time is running out now, with the U.S. National Debt Clock clocking
US$2.2 billion per day, and the Asian central banks are sweating on
their assets held in dollars. The Asian central banks may not dump
the greenback, but they may stop buying up the U.S. treasury bonds
to protect themselves from further currency loss. According to
Treasury Department data, foreign official net purchases of U.S.
Treasury fell to US$7 billion in December from US$21 billion in
November.
The Bush administration must device a credible plan to narrow its
ballooning fiscal deficit, cut the unnecessary spending on warfare and
social security. Opt for compulsory savings scheme like the Malaysian
EPF scheme. Increase interest rate at a slower pace as not to overkill
the declining U.S. consumption and investment spending. Provide
incentives for export-producing sectors as they are likely to generate
revenues necessary to pay back the rest of the world (to close the
current account deficit). Discourage speculation on properties as they
are more likely to cause artificial wealth which lead to overspending.
Lastly, to announce the successor for Mr. Alan Greenspan as early as
possible – but, I doubt it would make any difference now.
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