A FRESH warning about the health of the economy from the head of a global company weighed on the Australian dollar in Asia, although the currency still finished local trading higher yesterday. Dow Chemical's chief executive said he saw signs of a coming downturn in the Australian economy, arguing that jobs growth and overall competitiveness were in decline. "We are seeing troubling signs for our economy at large -- maybe even signs of a coming downturn," Andrew Liveris said. He said Australia's current growth trajectory was "unsustainable" and the country had grown far too reliant on China for its prosperity. The remarks sent the Australian dollar 20 pips lower. At 5pm AEDT, the dollar was trading at $US1.0530, up US0.82c from Monday, but off the $US1.0542 high earlier. The Aussie was at Y=87.178, up from Y=86.33. Earlier, a top central bank official said the value of the Australian dollar was having a "material influence on the economic outlook at the moment" and was being factored into policymakers' deliberations. Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor Guy Debelle said the dollar's current value was about where it should be given the prices paid for the nation's exports. "The exchange rate is in the ballpark of where you would expect it, given the rise in the terms of trade," Mr Debelle said at a conference in Sydney. But Reserve Bank board member Roger Corbett said the outlook for the domestic economy remained upbeat, even as some sectors struggled with the high exchange rate. Looking ahead, dealers are facing a data-thin calendar. Speeches by US Federal Reserve officials will be in focus, as will US consumer sentiment.

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