Hu criticizes US monetary policy

China’s President Hu Jintao criticized US monetary policy and its impact on the world economy, the Financial Times reported. In an interview responding to written questions from the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, Hu said that "[t]he monetary policy of the United States has a major impact on the global liquidity and capital flows and therefore, the liquidity of the US dollar should be kept at a reasonable and stable level." Hu also took jabs at the US dollar, saying that "the current international currency system is the product of the past." Some analysts interpreted the brusque comments as setting the tone of Hu’s impending visit to the US this week, during which American officials have made clear their intention to seek to raise the value of China’s currency and its broader role in the global economy.