China March FX reserves rise slightly, remain above US$3t

[BEIJING] China's foreign exchange reserves rose slightly in March, though by a bit less than the market expected, as capital control measures and a pause in the dollar's rally helped contain capital outflows.

Reserves rose US$3.96 billion during March to total US$3.009 trillion, compared with an increase of US$6.92 billion in February, when reserves rebounded to US$3.005 trillion, rising for the first time in eight months.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected foreign exchange reserves to rise by US$5 billion to US$3.01 trillion in March.

China has tightened rules on moving capital outside the country in recent months as it seeks to support the yuan currency and stem a slide in its foreign exchange reserves.

It burned through nearly US$320 billion of reserves last year but the yuan still fell about 6.5 per cent against the US dollar, its biggest annual drop since 1994.

The yuan's performance against the US dollar has been steady in recent weeks. The ongoing meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to have an impact on the yuan's value in the medium term.

Gold reserves value fell to US$73.74 billion at the end of March, from US$74.376 billion at end-February, data published on the People's Bank of China website also showed.

REUTERS