China moves to stabilise currency, retreating from effort to ease control

Hong Kong

CHINA has made a big show of gradually loosening its grip on the value of its currency, an effort meant to mollify critics such as President Donald Trump and specialists who have long urged Beijing to let markets fix financial problems in the world's second-largest economy.

On Friday, however, the Chinese government said, in effect, "never mind". Chinese officials said that they were "considering" a change in their procedures that would reinforce their control of the currency - a kind of statement usually indicating a policy had already been approved. The move would essentially bring more short-term stability to China's financial system, already the subject of renewed focus after Moody's Investors Service downgraded its credit rating on China's bonds on Wednesday, citing the country's mounting debt.