China’s current account surplus declined to $7.2 billion in the first three months of the year, down from $44 billion in the final quarter of 2013, reported the nation’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).
This was mainly due to the fact that local banks purchased a net foreign currency in March, marking the eighth straight month that foreign exchange purchases exceeded their sales. The banks bought foreign currency valued at 16.8 billion U.S. dollars in March and offloaded currency worth 127.6 billion U.S. dollars, resulting in a net surplus of 40.2 billion.
Overall, the banks purchased foreign currency worth 516.8 billion U.S. dollars between January and March and offloaded 357.5 billion U.S. dollars, resulting in a net purchase of US$159.2 billion. The trend of the net forex purchases started last August, though the surplus has declined from $US73.3 billion in the beginning of the year to February’s US$45.7 billion.
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“Overall, China is maintaining cross-border capital inflows but the trend has been easing recently,†Guan Tao, the head of SAFE’s Balance of Payments Department, told Xinhua News.
In a separate report, foreign exchange giant CME is expected to launch its European derivatives platform this Sunday after receiving the final approval from regulators. The company, which runs both Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, will partner with Realtime Systems Group (RTS) to allow clients to access its platform.
“RTS will provide connectivity right away to CME’s new derivatives exchange in Europe, offering immediate access to not only commodity contracts such as biodiesel futures, but a full suite of foreign exchange (FX) products. Our clients can leverage our platforms and UK data centre to trade these exchange-listed contracts in concert with non-deliverable forwards and cash FX offerings in our network,†said CME’s head of Europe Felix Carabello in a press release. To register for a free 2-week subscription to ForexMinute Premium Plan, visit www.forexminute.com/newsletter.
To contact the reporter of this story; Yashu Gola at yashu@forexminute.com
