One by one, the countries of the emerging world are loosening the shackles with which they tried to prevent their currencies from appreciating.
It is not that they care less about export competitiveness than they did even a few weeks ago. It’s that they now care more, much more, about inflation. And with rising prices of commodities, especially food and oil, stoking inflation, officials are deciding that allowing a currency to appreciate is a good way to relieve the pressure.
This modest shift over the past month deserves to be recognised by the summit of leaders of the Brics countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and now South Africa – meeting in China this week.