Except that isn’t what the IMF, Joepistole, and most everybody else wish for, what they wish for is a free floating currency like every other SDR currency is, that is what the IMF, Joepistole and most everyone else wishes for and they haven’t gotten what they wished for. China remains a currency manipulator (e.g. the last 2 days) and extra bold and enlarged letters will not change that fact. The market should determine value, not the state.And there may be more to come because, China has changed the way it sets the center of the + or - 2% wide variation band of the exchange rate.
For years China's exchange rate was the most stable of all, as the CCP just set the center point of the 2% wide trading band and all over the world, including the IMF, there was a demand (or a wish) for China to let the market, not the CCP set the exchange rate.
Well they got their wish now. "Be careful what you wish for - you might get it" - That applies now in spades.
As I understand it the next day's center of the 2% band will move down, if the prior day's exchange was below the center of the that day's band. (The max it could be below the center is 1%.) I.e. more devaluation (or appreciation) will occur AS THE MARKET PLACE WISHES ! But China does not want wild changes (nor should anyone), so the max one day will be 2%
(1% down from where exchange closed the prior day, which itself could be 1% below the center of that prior day, as 1 + 1 = 2)
For example if the exchange rate at end of day is at the down limit of 1% then the center of the band for tomorrow will be 1% lower than it was today.
Likewise if the exchange rate at end of day is at the up the limit of 1% then the center of the band for tomorrow will be 1% higher than it was today.
IE: The IMF, Joepistole, and most every body else got their wish granted, but only a max of 1% change (in either direction, as determined by THE MARKET PLACE)
These currency devaluations are a clear sign China is desperate. These devaluations are acts of desperation, not of strength. China’s leaders are fearful and rightly so. Their stock market is in free fall, exports are down and China is an export based economy. This is serious stuff. This is desperation. China is desperate and this likely isn’t the last devaluation.
The other factor clouding the issue here and driving fear is the lack of transparency in China. The outside world really doesn’t know with certitude the veracity of China’s economic statistics, because the country isn’t open or transparent. China has just begun a trade war. Given China's devaluation of its currency, I'd say the Fed should and probably will delay the expected increase in US interest rates.
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