Tension over currencies continued on Friday as ministers assembled for the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, with a European policymaker complaining about the weak dollar and Japan denying it was manipulating its currency. The debate on currencies has focused on the Chinese exchange rate, which Beijing continues to hold down by intervening in the currency markets. But the prospect of renewed quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve has weakened the dollar against other currencies.

The dollar has hit a 15-year low against the yen despite a short-lived fall in the Japanese currency after the Bank of Japan signalled this week that it would further ease monetary policy. On Friday, Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the eurogroup of finance ministers, said the euro was too strong against the US currency. “I don’t think the dollar is in line with fundamentals,” he said.

The Bank of Japan’s announcement this week that it would pursue weaker monetary policy appears to have been outweighed by speculation that the Fed will return to pushing more dollars out into the markets.