There are reasons both to relax and to worry about the renminbi’s fall to its lowest level against the dollar since December.
On the positive side, the currency’s movement this year looks not unlike the freely traded behaviour of some of its peers — a strong climb in the first quarter, followed by the turnround in mid-April. If the People’s Bank of China is less concerned about controlling its currency, recognising that sometimes there is no point fighting a stronger dollar, then markets will welcome it.
But the PBoC must also face the uncomfortable reality familiar to central banks elsewhere: that markets, influenced by geopolitical events, may not respond to policy measures in the way policymakers hope.