China FX reserves fall record US$93.9b in Aug as central bank supports yuan

[BEIJING] China's foreign exchange reserves, the world's largest, shrank by US$93.9 billion in August - the biggest monthly fall on record - to US$3.557 trillion, central bank data showed on Monday.

The drop in foreign exchange reserves was widely anticipated as the central bank stepped up intervention to stabilise the yuan currency after a surprise devaluation last month.

The value of China's gold reserves stood at US$61.8 billion at the end of August, up from US$59.24 billion at the end of July, the People's Bank of China said on its website.

China's International Monetary Fund (IMF) reserve position stood at US$4.73 billion, up from US$4.37 billion the previous month. It held US$10.53 billion of IMF Special Drawing Rights at the end of last month, up slightly from US$10.46 billion at the end of July.

The central bank in July shifted to reporting its foreign exchange reserves on a monthly basis after adopting the IMF's Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS). The bank had previously released the data on a quarterly basis.

REUTERS