China has started letting the yuan weaken slightly in a pointed “snub” to U.S. President Donald Trump, Dutch bank ING said in a report.
ING said the yuan has been moving much more narrowly in the past two months as the People’s Bank of China, the central bank, has emphasized “stability” in currency policy.
But the Chinese currency, also known as the renminbi, weakened against the dollar by 0.2 percent in March, and by 0.3 percent so far in April, ING said in the report. That compares with the yuan strengthening by 2.45 percent in first two months of the year, it added.
“We believe the change in direction, albeit small in substance, is a way for China to show that its yuan policy is independent from the influence of other countries,” Iris Pang, ING’s economist for Greater China, said in the report.
“We think this is a snub to the Trump administration who said that the yuan cannot depreciate if there is a U.S.-China trade deal.”