China does not plan to revalue the yuan during next week's Labor Day holiday, a central bank spokesman said yesterday, quashing rumors that such a change was imminent.
"As far as we know, there's no adjustment expected in the yuan exchange rate," Bai Li (
A brief wave of speculation over a possible shift in currency policy roiled regional share and currency markets yesterday. Such rumors have been circulating in the past week, despite official denials that major changes were pending.
A key measure of expectations for the yuan's future value, discounts on US dollar/yuan non-deliverable forwards (NDFs), widened sharply to 4800/4200 from 4300/4150 yesterday morning amid revived speculation over a possible revaluation.
The NDF discount rate does not affect the yuan's actual value.
Bai yesterday declined to comment on the movement, saying: "It's up to the market to explain any market activities."
Authorities sometimes choose to announce policy changes during public holidays, and China's financial markets will be closed next week for the national holiday.
China limits trading in the yuan and has kept its value in a narrow range near 8.28 yuan per US dollar since 1994.
The US and other nations say the yuan is undervalued, giving China's exporters an unfair price advantage.
Beijing says it will eventually let the yuan trade freely on world markets, but that doing so immediately would damage the country's frail banks and financial industries.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co predicted China will loosen its decade-old peg to the US dollar next week.
Gong spoke after the Chinese central bank let the yuan strengthen to 8.2700 per US dollar, the most since the currency was fixed at around 8.3 per US dollar in 1995. The central bank then sold yuan to weaken it to 8.2775. The currency is currently allowed to trade 0.3 percent above and below 8.2770 per US dollar.
WHEELING AND DEALING? Hou You-yi, Ko Wen-je, Eric Chu and Ma Ying-jeou are under investigation for allegedly offering bribes for the other side to drop out of the race Taipei prosecutors have started an investigation into allegations that four top politicians involved in attempts to form a “blue-white” presidential ticket have contravened election regulations. Listed as defendants are Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate and New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the KMT and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲). The case stemmed from judicial complaints filed last month with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office alleging that the KMT (blue) and the TPP (white) had engaged in bribery by offering money or other enticements
EXPOSED: Some Taipei wardens reported joining the trips out of peer pressure, while others said they were relieved it was made public so they could refuse, a city councilor said Nearly 30 percent of Taipei borough wardens have joined group tours to China that were partially funded by the Chinese government, leading prosecutors probing potential Chinese interference in January’s elections to question local officials, an investigation showed. Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City councilors Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) and Chen E-jun (陳怡君) have reported cases of Taipei borough wardens inviting residents to join inexpensive privately organized group tours to China that were partially funded by the Chinese government. The six-day trips reportedly cost NT$10,000 to NT$15,000, the councilors said. An investigation by the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) showed that nearly 30 percent
ELIGIBLE FOR JANUARY: All presidential candidates and their running mates meet the requirements to run for office, and none hold dual citizenship, the CEC said Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator and vice presidential candidate Cynthia Wu (吳欣盈) is working with the Central Election Commission (CEC) to resolve issues with her financial disclosure statement, a spokesman for the candidate said yesterday, after the commission published the statements of all three presidential candidates and their running mates, while confirming their eligibility to run in the Jan. 13 election. Wu’s office spokesman, Chen Yu-cheng (陳宥丞), said the candidate encountered unforeseen difficulties disclosing her husband’s finances due to being suddenly thrust into the campaign. She is also the first vice presidential nominee to have a foreign spouse, complicating the reporting of
GOOD NEWS: Although open civic spaces are shrinking in Asia-Pacific countries and territories, Taiwan’s openness is a positive sign, an expert said Taiwan remains the only country in Asia with an “open” civic space for the fifth consecutive year, the Civicus Monitor said in a report released yesterday. The People Power Under Attack 2023 report named Taiwan as one of only 37 open countries or territories out of 198 globally, and the only one in Asia. Compiled by Civicus — a global alliance of civil society organizations dedicated to bolstering civil action — the ranking compiled annually since 2017 measures the state of freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression around the world. Researchers assign each country or territory one of five rankings describing the
RSS