ECB, BOJ trying to depress exchange rate: ex-BOE chief

London

THE European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of Japan (BOJ) are essentially trying to push down the values of their respective currencies with the use of negative interest rates, former Bank of England (BOE) governor Mervyn King said.

"There are clearly limits" to the effectiveness of negative rates, Mr King said on Monday in a Bloomberg Television interview in New York with David Gura. "I think you can see with Japan and the euro area, that in essence, the central banks are trying to push down the exchange rate. Most countries in the world could say now, 'If only the rest of the world was growing normally, we'd be fine. But since it isn't, we aren't. What's left? Push down the exchange rate'."