China's central bank has devalued the national currency, the yuan, to its lowest rate against the US dollar in almost three years

(News item 11 August 2015)

 

China's central bank has devalued the national currency, the yuan, to its lowest rate against the US dollar in almost three years. The lender said the move was a "one-off depreciation" of 1.9% in a move to make the exchange rate more market-oriented.

 

It comes in the wake of a string of weak economic data from the world's second largest economy. At the weekend, China reported a sharp fall in exports and a slide in producer prices to a near six-year low in July.

Exports fell by 8.3% in July, far worse than expected and the producer price index was down 5.4% from a year earlier. The midpoint for the yuan is now set at 6.2298 to $1, up from 6.1162 yuan on Monday.

The People's Bank of China (POBC) manages the rate through the official midpoint, from which trade can rise or fall 2% on any given day