The ongoing American government shutdown has cut off important economic information that officials in Japan and other nations depend on when making decisions about their own financial policies, creating worry among leaders worldwide.<\/p>\n
Countries around the globe keep a close watch on the American economy because what takes place there affects their own situations. Without access to regular updates from the United States<\/a>, foreign policymakers say their jobs become harder and the chance of making wrong choices goes up during a period when nations are already dealing with changes brought by the Trump White House\u2019s new approach to international commerce.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a serious problem. We hope this gets fixed soon,\u201d Kazuo Ueda, who runs Japan\u2019s central bank, said at a press conference on October 3. He talked about the difficulties his institution faces when trying to figure out the right time to raise borrowing costs.<\/p>\n A different Japanese official, speaking to Reuters anonymously due to restrictions on public commentary, offered a more direct critique. The official expressed skepticism about the situation, questioning Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell\u2019s repeated assertions that Fed policy decisions are driven by economic data, arguing that reliable data<\/a> to base such decisions on is actually lacking<\/p>\n British policymaker warns of \u2018termites\u2019 eating dollar\u2019s status<\/p>\n Catherine Mann, who helps set policy at England\u2019s central bank, explained<\/a> that questions about American information don\u2019t affect British decisions as directly as shifts in commerce policy do. Those changes have a direct impact on costs and what the country sells abroad. However, she pointed out how Britain\u2019s currency lost its top position in the world over many years.<\/p>\n She compared policy changes that might hurt the dollar\u2019s standing<\/a> or weaken the Fed\u2019s freedom to \u201ctermites\u201d that slowly damage something over time. These issues \u201care things that we have in our mind but they\u2019re not front and center,\u201d Mann said.<\/p>\n Leaders from finance ministries and economic agencies worldwide gathered in Washington this week for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings.<\/p>\n With ongoing war in Europe, trouble in the Middle East, and long-term challenges like climate change, much of the discussion centers on President Donald Trump\u2019s global plans, how he\u2019s performed so far, and the sudden halt of official information about a $30 trillion economy that makes up roughly one-fourth of what the world produces.<\/p>\n Shutdown symptoms point to deeper problems<\/p>\n