Markets eye Fed's next move over Trans-Pacific deal

As part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, emerging markets want to know what Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is thinking. Within the framework of the biggest trade deal of the last 20 years, the U.S. and 11 other Pacific Rim countries agreed not to manipulate foreign exchange rates and, instead, to consult on monetary policies. Export-dependent economies such as Vietnam and Malaysia decided not to devalue their currencies to gain a competitive advantage. In return for this promise, these countries want to have further insight about the monetary policy of the U.S.

The increase in the interest rates, which is a first in the U.S. after a decade, might trigger capital outflow in developing nations and lead to a loss in their currencies. History proves that these concerns are true. When then Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled that the central bank might soon ease off its bond-buying program, currencies from India's rupee to Turkey's lira plunged in 2013. Now, Yellen has been talking about a probable rate rise; however, the timing is not conclusive. Gary Hufbauer, one of the administrators of the Peterson Institute said: "Part of the deal is that they get to ask more intrusive questions about what the Federal Reserve is doing. From the viewpoint of these countries, the longer the Fed stays at zero, the better."