We want to point readers to our previous article on the rout in various EM currencies, in which we opined that the dramatic weakening of the Japanese yen was likely an important trigger of these moves. We felt reminded of the Asian crisis in this context, which could ultimately be traced back to a succession of events, beginning with a massive unilateral yuan devaluation in 1994, which was soon followed by the yen weakening sharply from its 1995 blow-off top. The ‘Asian Tigers’ meanwhile had maintained currency pegs to the dollar, which led to large current account deficits and the build-up of credit and asset bubbles. Many companies in these countries borrowed in dollars, believing the pegs had removed currency risk. The outcome was not pretty.
In theory, there exists much greater flexibility nowadays – there are no longer any pegs, with the notable exception of the currency board arrangement of the Hong Kong Dollar, and many of the former crisis countries have used the time since the Asian crisis to build up large war chests in the form of sizable foreign exchange reserves. However, sudden capital outflows and sharply weakening exchange rates are still bound to have numerous knock-on effects.
Anyway, we were wondering for how much longer China would allow the yuan to appreciate in this environment and are therefore keeping a close eye on the currency. It may well be that the trend is about to change. In recent days, the yuan has weakened markedly, although the move is still small in a bigger picture context. Still, it is the biggest monthly downward correction in some time. If the yuan were to weaken further, we would have to conclude that China’s leadership has decided that it is no longer advantageous to let the currency appreciate.
The yuan has been a one way street for so long now that we imagine all sorts of trading strategies have been implemented around this seeming one way bet. In other words, a significant weakening of the yuan may have numerous unexpected effects due to the interconnectedness of financial markets.
