A strong rally in the renminbi is testing Beijing’s currency management policies, after China’s stimulus plans and the US Federal Reserve’s embrace of lower interest rates sent Asian currencies surging against the US dollar.
The renminbi’s spot exchange rate has moved tightly in sync with an official “fix” set by the central bank in recent weeks, indicating that Beijing is reasserting control of the currency as the US presidential election looms.
The People’s Bank of China kept the official rate at between 7.1 and 7.2 to the dollar for most of this year even as the spot renminbi stayed at the bottom of a 2 per cent trading band around the fix.