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Currencies

Currencies
Currency market action focused on developments with the Chinese yuan and the Hong Kong dollar.
US President Donald Trump speaks during an American Mining Industry Roundtable at the State Department in Washington on August 7. Photo: EPA
United States

Macroscope | Trump’s Treasury threat will only accelerate the dollar’s decline

While loose talk over bond market interventions may not trigger an immediate sell-off, it will convince foreign creditors to keep trimming their Treasury exposure.

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China-Africa relations

China expands currency swap with Egypt as trade ties reach new heights

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Hong Kong economy

John Lee urges banks to finance city’s tech growth, expand offshore yuan business

China trade

China rejects G20 trade-imbalance claims, says no need to devalue yuan

Beijing ‘deeply regrets’ a consensus was not reached after opposing some of the language used, and China urges deficit countries to cut spending.

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Officers stand guard in front of the headquarters of the People’s Bank of China in Beijing. Photo: Reuters
Japan

US Treasury’s Bessent calls on Japan to boost yen through rate increases

A weak yen, which has pushed up import prices and broader inflation, has been blamed in part on the central bank’s slow pace of rate increases.

Banking & finance

Yuan, Hong Kong dollar bonds surge as issuers seek cheaper funding

Issuance of dim sum, panda and wonton bonds accelerates as Beijing promotes the yuan’s global use and deeper cross-border access broadens demand.

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Yuan

Open Questions | US economist Barry Eichengreen on how de-dollarisation could actually look

The former IMF adviser examines how de-dollarisation is gaining pace and what lies ahead for China’s yuan.

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Illustration: Henry Wong
Yuan

Opinion | Deutsche Bank’s yuan mandate boosts Chinese currency’s global reach

The clearing mandate from China elevates Frankfurt as a primary hub for offshore renminbi settlement, challenging London’s dominance.

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United States

As I see it | The US is telling its trading partners – do as I say, not as I do

While Washington says it is monitoring certain countries, including Japan, for foreign exchange interventions, it also coordinated with Tokyo to prop up the yen.

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Banking & finance

Japan’s yen is falling yet again. What could Washington and Tokyo do next?

Another US-Japan intervention may be needed to prop up the Japanese currency, as a US Treasury rout fuels the yen carry trade, analysts say.

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A man walks past an electronic screen displaying the current Japanese yen exchange rate on August 3, after a rare joint US-Japan intervention to prop up the currency. Photo: Reuters
Banking & finance

Use of yuan hits 6-month high in Hong Kong’s fast-payment system

Yuan-denominated payments rise 34 per cent, with Payment Connect mechanism acting as catalyst for multiplying cross-border use cases.

The transaction momentum coincides with Beijing’s intensified campaign to internationalise the yuan. Photo: Shutterstock
Banking & finance

Opinion | Chinese treasury futures launch cements Hong Kong as premier yuan hub

It marks Hong Kong’s transformation from a yuan payment channel and funding pool into a comprehensive centre for yuan assets.

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Uzbekistan

Jim Rogers eyes up China’s yuan as he warns of a US market crash

Legendary investor lauds the yuan but says his cash holdings are still in US dollars because the Chinese currency lacks full convertibility.

Banking & finance

Opinion | Just like with the yen, America cannot save the AI bubble

The Japanese currency and US tech stocks share the same fatal problem: momentum can’t survive broken fundamentals.

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An electronic board showing the US dollar and Japanese yen exchange rate at a securities firm in Tokyo on August 3. Photo: AP
Bonds

Hong Kong to list first Shanghai free-trade zone bond to defend yuan hub status

HKEX announces that a Shanghai Electric subsidiary is set to list a 1.5 billion yuan green bond later this month.

A view of the Hong Kong skyline. Photo: Getty Images
Banking & finance

Chinese central bank’s 15th five-year plan

The People’s Bank of China pledges to expand global use of the yuan to make the country a financial powerhouse in its first stand-alone five-year plan in at least a decade.

Banking & finance

China’s panda bond market surges as Goldman Sachs flags limits to yuan expansion

Issuance of yuan-denominated debt surges, including in dim sum bond market, but sustained global use of yuan seen requiring broader access and stronger finance links.

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Banking & finance

Macroscope | Behind the AI stock market bubble lies a weak yen

The tech stock boom, financed in large part by the yen carry trade, is at risk of collapse if the currency strengthens.

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Pedestrians pass a foreign currency indicator board showing the rate of the US dollar against the Japanese yen in Tokyo on August 3. The yen surged against the US dollar, reaching its strongest level in about three months after Japanese and US monetary authorities conducted a coordinated intervention to buy the yen for the first time in 28 years. Photo: EPA
Banking & finance

Hong Kong preferred base as Chinese SOEs consolidate overseas accounts

City’s attractions include international banking system, deep capital markets, offshore yuan pool and close links with mainland.

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China-Latin America relations

Argentina extends US$19 billion China currency swap despite US pressure

Buenos Aires locks in the yuan line until 2031, months after the US Treasury Department offered a rival facility.

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Banking & finance

Macroscope | US efforts to prop up the yen risk doing more harm than good

Reversing the yen’s long-term decline ultimately rests on Japan’s ability to take its real interest rates out of negative territory – without triggering market panic.

A person walks past an electronic board showing Japan’s Nikkei index chart in Tokyo on August 6. At a time when the US is the main source of volatility in global markets, Washington’s participation in the Japanese currency intervention adds another layer of uncertainty. Photo: AP
Yuan

China needs a stronger yuan, ‘fiscal boost’ to drive near-term growth: analysts

Rebalancing economy and offsetting a record trade surplus requires targeted stimulus to counter growing global trade barriers, analysts say.

Goldman Sachs analysts have weighed in on the strength of China’s yuan. Photo: Shutterstock Images
Banking & finance

The US helped boost the yen. Can China do the same for the Australian dollar?

Currency traders believe Beijing’s economic policies could give the Australian dollar a boost. Analysts say things are more complex in reality.

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China-Latin America relations

Brazil to become regular borrower in China, treasury official says

Brasilia cannot guarantee debut will happen this year, but wants it repeated to give companies a yuan benchmark to aim for.

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Japan

US-Japan trade thaw driven by shared yen for stronger currency

How long this boost in relations will last, though, depends on whether the yen can hold its value, experts say.

A woman looks at an electronic screen showing current and recent Japanese yen exchange rates against the US dollar on Monday. Photo: Reuters
Banking & finance

China’s foreign reserves hold steady as external earnings stay in private hands

Hong Kong absorbed nearly two-thirds of mainland China’s portfolio outflows last year and now holds about half of the total external stock, IIF says.

China’s banks, companies and investors operating outside the central bank’s reserve holdings became net creditors in their own right at the end of 2025, according to the Institution of International Finance. Photo: Shutterstock
Yuan

Fresh mBridge progress boosts cross-border digital yuan push

China’s Project mBridge, the multilateral central bank digital currency platform, is moving closer to broader commercial adoption.

Banking & finance

Rare US-Japan intervention as yen hits 40-year low: what does it mean?

Washington steps in to save Tokyo’s weakened currency in first joint yen-buying action for almost 30 years, causing its value to surge.

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