Market expectations stable for RMB exchange rate: Central bank official

Pan Gongsheng, central bank deputy governor [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - The Chinese currency yuan is experiencing two-way fluctuations and market expectations are stable for its future trend, central bank deputy governor Pan Gongsheng told reporters on Saturday.

Pan made the remarks in Beijing before attending a panel discussion during the annual session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, which opened on Friday.

Speaking of market concerns over China's waning foreign exchange reserves, which are now below the closely watched $3 trillion mark, Pan said that such a mark is "meaningless" as the value of forex reserve is a "continuous variable."

The country's forex reserves dipped to about $2.998 trillion in January, down from about $3.01 trillion in December 2016, representing the seventh consecutive monthly contraction, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange data showed.

"China's forex reserves are more than sufficient, either by internationally accepted traditional standards or the lastest standards worked out by scholars," said Pan.

Yi Gang, another central bank deputy governor, said on the same occasion that an interest-rate increase is not necessary for China for the time being.

China has set the tone of its 2017 monetary policy as prudent and neutral, keeping appropriate liquidity but also avoiding excessive liquidity injections.