China’s decision to loosen some of its currency controls, permitting greater volatility in daily trade from Monday, has been welcomed as an important step towards allowing the renminbi to float freely.
From this week, the renminbi will be allowed to rise or fall 1 per cent each day from the daily official rate against the US dollar, double its previous trading range of 0.5 per cent.
Analysts still expect the central bank to keep the exchange rate stable in the coming months as a buffer against global economic uncertainty, but the band widening lays the groundwork for a future in which market forces, not the government, shape its value.