ECB's Noyer sees no sign of currency war at G20 talks

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - European Central Bank Governing Council member Christian Noyer said on Tuesday he saw no sign of a currency war building and that a meeting of the G20 leading economies had shown a common understanding of the need for monetary policy easing. In the past there were suspicions of competitive devaluations but those suspicions were gone, Noyer, who is also governor of the Bank of France, told reporters. "There is clear agreement by all of the G20 countries that monetary policies are taken for domestic reasons to try to meet price targets that are set for the central bank," he said. It was clear monetary policy can affect the exchange rate, he said, pointing to the effects of quantitative easing by the U.S. Federal Reserve and then its announcement it would taper then end the programme. He said the European Central Bank's quantitative easing could now have a similar effect on the euro. "So there's nothing extraordinary there," he said. "There is not at all a sense of a currency war around the (G20) table." Noyer also said that behind some gloomy forecasts about the global outlook there was "a certain renewed optimism" in Istanbul, linked to the sharp fall in oil prices and structural reforms undertaken by many countries. "We can have some good surprises, both globally and in the euro zone," said Noyer. (Reporting by Randall Palmer. Editing by Nick Tattersall)