Speculation rife that Sydney may be yuan trading centre
Sydney
AUSTRALIAN importers are in line for a windfall as speculation grows that Chinese President Xi Jinping will use his visit to the country this week to anoint Sydney as a yuan trading centre.
The ability to exchange Australian dollars directly into yuan, rather than first converting them into the US currency, would save companies as much as 7 per cent on deals with China, according to HSBC Holdings. Chinese investment in Australia has the potential to increase seven times to almost US$300 billion by 2020 if the yuan hub is accompanied by measures such as a free-trade agreement, Westpac Banking Corp estimates.
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
International
BOE reports record usage of short-term liquidity repo
Philippines central bank not seeing rate hike despite peso weakness: finmin
Middle East tensions threaten global progress on inflation: World Bank
Heatstroke kills 30 in Thailand this year as South-east Asia bakes
Thailand to appoint former energy executive Pichai as finance minister, sources say
Consumer gulf widens as demand for premium and budget foods grows