By Simon Kennedy, BridgeNews
Washington--Jan. 24--The White House on Wednesday denied overnight reports that Lawrence Lindsey, President Bush's top economic adviser, had made any comments about the Japanese yen.
* * * "It is incorrect," White House spokesman Ken Lisaius told BridgeNews when asked about a report citing a Japanese politician as saying that Lindsey would accept an exchange rate of 120 yen per dollar.
In a Japanese news agency's report, Lindsey was alleged by Taku Yamasaki, a former policy affairs chief of the Liberal Democratic Party, to have said in New York on Jan. 15 that "We'd even accept the exchange rate level of 120 yen to the dollar."
Dollar/yen had hit a 5-day high of 118.17 amid reports before falling back around half a yen on the denial.
This is not the first time that Lindsey has been accused by Japanese officials of making currency-related comments. On Nov. 15, he found himself at the center of controversy following reports that he had suggested to Japanese lawmakers that a Bush administration would change the fabled strong dollar policy first introduced by Democratic Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin.
Lindsey later denied saying that Bush would favor a weaker currency policy, and repeated that he believed in a robust dollar. Also, a statement from the Bush-Cheney campaign released later in the day reiterated that a Bush presidency would continue the strong dollar policy, a promise reinforced last week by new Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. End Copyright 2001 Bridge Information Systems Inc. All rights reserved.