Dollar surge leaves US officials undaunted

Washington

THE US dollar is surging. And US policymakers look prepared to live with it.

While officials have pointed to the difficulties posed by the currency's rise - it holds back economic growth and suppresses already too-low inflation - they have indicated no willingness to stand in its way. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has repeated the mantra that a strong US dollar is in America's interest, while Federal Reserve vice-chairman Stanley Fischer has said that it is a sign of US economic might.

The rising US dollar "is a concern, and policymakers will be watching it closely," said Charles Collyns, chief economist at the Institute of International Finance in Washington and a former Treasu…