Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, said on Thursday that sustaining a strong dollar was a priority as the US currency hovered around its lowest level of the year.

He told a House of Representatives subcommittee that his “basic obligation is to make sure that we put in place policies that sustain confidence in this economy, in our currency, that we sustain a strong dollar, that we retain what is a great strength and asset to this country, which is the most deep and most liquid markets for Treasury securities in the world”.