Top minds in heated debate on RMB, trade
By Fu Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-06-23 06:29
Gradual RMB appreciation appreciated - Lee Kuan Yew
Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said here Thursday that he expects
China to allow gradual appreciation of its currency Renminbi (RMB), according to
Channel NewsAsia report at night.
"They are not going to have any sudden shift in their position.. .I do not
see them leaping. They will go up gradually and slowly without disrupting their
growth," Lee was quoted as saying at a meeting organized by accounting company
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.
He said that China understands market economics and is well advised by the
World Bank and other central bankers.
He cautioned that if other countries impose tariffs on China, the cost of
living in these countries will rise.
In July 21 last year, China revalued the exchange rate of the RMB yuan to the
U.S. dollar by 2.1 percent to 8.11, abolishing the yuan to the dollar pegging
system applied in the past few years.
The central bank also announced the adoption of a managed float to an
undisclosed basket of foreign currencies, allowing the trading price between the
dollar and the yuan to float within a 0. 3 percent band around the official
central parity.
Currently, the exchange rate of the RMB yuan to the U.S. dollar is around
8.
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