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the second time that it raised the benchmark interest rate this year and the fourth time since the start of last year. Around the same time, the PBOC also said it will allow the renminbi to be traded against a larger range of currencies than the current seven, including the . dollar, which foreign exchange traders says will help reduce the greenback39。s value. Blame Game As for the ., the QE2 was one of several policy levers pulled to improve the country39。s School of Public Policy. He says the Fed was already keeping interest rates very low, leaving little room to lower rates further. “Another option at that time was a new stimulus bill. However, it seemed to be politically unlikely,” he notes. “Another round of QE was one of the few choices left.” But the timing of the QE239。s policy. “QE2 put the . on the defensive in arguing with China to rebalance the world economy, he notes. Since China was unhappy about the QE, and other countries joined it in criticizing the Fed?s action, it was harder for the . to get these countries to join in pushing China on other issues at Seoul, such as the currency appreciation.” Destler reckons that Bernanke made a mistake in not giving a serious international justification of QE2 in time, hence putting himself under international criticism. He should have explained that it was necessary for the Federal Reserve to implement QE2 to stimulate the . economy, that the international spillover was manageable and the world would benefit from a stronger . recovery,” he says. Third Time Lucky? Tian of Fudan University warns that the big danger of a QE3 is that it will challenge the credibility of the . dollar. “If countries around the world bypass the . dollar during international trade, dollars will flow back to the and that would be a serious problem for the .,” he says. Zheng of Fudan University notes that in the event of further easing by the Fed, China will most likely have to allow the RMB to appreciate. “A third round of QE equals another round of petitive depreciation of the . dollar,” he says. “Since the RMB maintains a soft peg to the dollar, the RMB39。s State Council recently predicted that the impact of an RMB appreciation on exportoriented enterprises would not be as big as many fear. Though the price of exports would increase, an appreciation would also lower the cost of imports. As for whether QE3 could trigger more hot money flowing into China, recent data suggests the impact might be muted. A report published in February by FT China Confidential said the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange estimates that the amount of hot money currently reaching China through the capital account has decreased to around US$290 billion from US$1 trillion in 2020, indicating that even with the QEs, China has been able to handle the inflows effectively. Perhaps more telling about QE1, QE2, and the prospect of QE3, is the war of words unleashed by the world3