RESTON, May 12: The US dollar’s recent fall is improving prospects for exporters, a Commerce Department official said on Monday, echoing Sunday comments from Treasury Secretary John Snow that raised questions about Bush administration dollar policy.

Kathleen Cooper, undersecretary of commerce for economic affairs, told a commerce conference on international trade the dollar’s drop was giving exporters “somewhat more pricing power,” particularly on sales to European Union nations.

While both Cooper and Snow coupled their remarks with a verbal backing for a strong US dollar, the admission that the weaker currency has yielded economic benefits raised doubts in financial markets about the Bush administration’s commitment to a strong dollar policy and sent the currency lower.

Manufacturers complained during the dollar’s bumper years that the greenback’s strength hurt their prospects overseas.

“In the current environment, the market takes those sorts of comments to suggest (policymakers) don’t necessarily want a stronger dollar per se,” said Bob Lynch, currency strategist at BNP Paribas in New York.

On Monday, the dollar fell to new four-year lows against the euro and the Swiss franc on the remarks. It has been under heavy selling pressure of late, chiefly on economic worries.

“When the dollar is at a lower level, it helps exports, and I think exports are getting stronger as a result,” Snow told ABC’s “This Week” news programme on Sunday, when asked whether the currency was at a level where it could give a significant boost to the US exports.

However, Snow also said in the Sunday spate of television appearances aimed at pushing the Bush administration tax plan that he believed in a strong US dollar. “The best thing we can do to have a strong dollar is to see that the fundamentals of the American economy are strong,” he said.

Cooper also said the Bush administration remained committed to a strong dollar policy, but noted the currency’s sharp rise in the late 1990s had hurt US exporters.

While the full impact of the dollar’s slide will take some time to sink in, she said it was clear the dollar has “moved closer to its long-term average” versus other currencies.

Cooper said trade has been a drag on the US economy in recent years both because of the strong dollar and weak overseas economies which have hurt US exports.

“Our economic performance has been affected by the widening trade gap,” she said, adding that the recovery would have been stronger without the record trade deficit. While there are still few economic statistics to assess the post-Iraq war health of the US economy, she said consumer confidence seems to have improved and oil prices have fallen.—Reuters