Chinese banks’ forex settlement deficit narrows in August-Xinhua

File photo shows a worker counts the U.S. dollars at a bank in Qionghai City, south China’s Hainan Province. (Xinhua/Meng Zhongde)

BEIJING, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) — China’s commercial banks saw a net forex settlement deficit of 74.1 billion yuan (about 10.32 billion U.S. dollars) in August, narrowing by 30 percent from a month ago, official data showed on Friday.

In yuan terms, forex purchases by banks stood at 1.39 trillion yuan, while sales reached about 1.46 trillion yuan, data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed.

During the first eight months, forex purchases by banks came in at 10.44 trillion yuan, and sales totaled 10.6 trillion yuan.

China’s foreign exchange market expectations remained generally stable in August, said Wang Chunying, deputy director and spokesperson of the administration, adding that companies remained “rational” in forex settlement and sales transactions last month.

“There has been a sustained high net-inflow level of funds under the goods trade category, which reflects the resilience of China’s foreign trade,” Wang said.

Wang expected China’s foreign exchange market to stabilize as positive factors in both domestic and international environments increase.

China’s economy will continue to recover and improve as macroeconomic policies take effect, which will consolidate its support of the foreign exchange market, according to Wang.

Wang noted that the tightening monetary policies in major developed economies are nearing their end, and the spillover effects will generally weaken.

She added that China’s foreign exchange market is becoming more rational and mature, with enhanced adaptation ability of market entities and improved macro-prudential management tools for the foreign exchange market.

All these factors are conducive to the stable future development of the country’s forex market, Wang said.  ■