CRI听力:Trump's uncertainty impacts global financial markets: observers

The impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's policies on global financial markets took centre stage at this year's Tsinghua PBCSF Global Finance Forum which was held in Beijing over the weekend.

Hosted by the prestigious Tsinghua University, the forum attracted hundreds of academics and industry leaders from both home and abroad.

Zhu Min is the former IMF Deputy Managing Director and his main concern is volatility caused by Mr. Trump's policies.

"Trump has changed the story and changed market expectations, and so has changed the behavior of the market. This is interesting, for us, who work in the financial sector, who have to monitor market expectations and behaviors. But Trump's impact on the market has been big, and the stock market is beginning to rise. What is more interesting is that when the stock market is up, we can see a lot of the stocks related to his policies surging through the roof" said Zhu

The former IMF deputy noted that the expectations on American's interest rates have changed greatly.

He says before Trump was elected, the yield on 10 year U.S. treasury bonds was at some 2% which was the norm. However after he took office, yields hiked up to 3%, and then fell on Friday to its lowest level since November. 10, the date of his election victory, and is now fluctuating on the market.

Zhu says Trump's policies are the biggest uncertainty in the global financial markets, and their impact is felt far and wide.

"If we put all Trump policies together, I think they are the biggest uncertainty in the world today, as their implementation remains unclear, so the results are not foreseeable. His fiscal policy could cause inflation, changes in the exchange rates, and his tendency on monetary policy and interest rates could lead to a change in the U.S. dollar interest rate, leading to changes in global interest rate levels."

Last week Trump announced the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate accord, prompting a global backlash from world leaders and environmental groups.

China has said it will honor the Climate Accord. 

Adair Turner, the former Chairman of the British Financial Services Authority, and former director general of the influential Confederation of British Industry, says he hopes to see even more green elements in the China inspired Belt and Road Initiative, which brings together more than 60 countries in economic and cultural cooperation.

"Climate change is hugely important, and I think we need more infrastructure and I think we need more green infrastructure. And I think that china has after yesterday, both an enormous opportunity, and an enormous responsibility to play a major leading role, on a crucial global challenge, on which, unfortunately, the president of the United States has decided to go in completely the wrong direction" said Turner.

The two-day Tsinghua PBCSF Global Finance Forum was held on Saturday and Sunday in Beijing.