Amid Slowdown, Yuan Heads for Second Weekly Decline

China’s yuan headed for its second weekly decline after the central bank guided the currency’s reference rate lower amid slowing economic growth.

The People’s Bank of China cut the fixing on four of five days this week, lowering it to 6.1751 per dollar today, 0.2 percent less than on July 12. The International Monetary Fund said July 17 there is an increasing risk that China’s 2013 growth will fall short of the fund’s 7.75 percent forecast. China should widen the yuan’s trading band and accelerate capital-account convertibility, according to a front-page commentary in the China Securities Journal.

The yuan fell 0.05 percent this week to 6.1406 per dollar as of 10:03 a.m. in Shanghai, China Foreign Exchange Trade System prices show. The currency, which was little changed today, has strengthened 1.5 percent this year, the only gainer among the 11 most-traded Asian exchange rates. It is allowed to trade 1 percent on either side of the daily fixing.

Bloomberg

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