WTO chief steps into currency row, warns over trade

WTO director-general Pascal Lamy said governments had largely resisted resorting to conventional trade measures such as higher tariffs to protect jobs in the wake of the crisis, but friction over exchange rates risked undermining that. "For the moment it's a risk, but it's a risk that can be dangerous for trade," he told reporters late on Monday.

Lamy has in the past refused to get involved in discussions about currencies, arguing that such matters are primarily the mandate of the International Monetary Fund.