• 546 days Will The ECB Continue To Hike Rates?
  • 546 days Forbes: Aramco Remains Largest Company In The Middle East
  • 548 days Caltech Scientists Succesfully Beam Back Solar Power From Space
  • 948 days Could Crypto Overtake Traditional Investment?
  • 952 days Americans Still Quitting Jobs At Record Pace
  • 954 days FinTech Startups Tapping VC Money for ‘Immigrant Banking’
  • 957 days Is The Dollar Too Strong?
  • 958 days Big Tech Disappoints Investors on Earnings Calls
  • 959 days Fear And Celebration On Twitter as Musk Takes The Reins
  • 960 days China Is Quietly Trying To Distance Itself From Russia
  • 961 days Tech and Internet Giants’ Earnings In Focus After Netflix’s Stinker
  • 964 days Crypto Investors Won Big In 2021
  • 965 days The ‘Metaverse’ Economy Could be Worth $13 Trillion By 2030
  • 965 days Food Prices Are Skyrocketing As Putin’s War Persists
  • 968 days Pentagon Resignations Illustrate Our ‘Commercial’ Defense Dilemma
  • 968 days US Banks Shrug off Nearly $15 Billion In Russian Write-Offs
  • 971 days Cannabis Stocks in Holding Pattern Despite Positive Momentum
  • 972 days Is Musk A Bastion Of Free Speech Or Will His Absolutist Stance Backfire?
  • 972 days Two ETFs That Could Hedge Against Extreme Market Volatility
  • 974 days Are NFTs About To Take Over Gaming?
  1. Home
  2. Markets
  3. Other

Another 2% Yuan Devaluation Coming Up? What Are the Risks? Explaining Chinese Capital Flight

Another Yuan Devaluation Coming Up?

Currency trends suggest another yuan devaluation is coming up. Specifically, the gap between the mainland China yuan (renminbi) to the US dollar, vs. the offshore floating rate of the yuan to the US dollar is now at a record high.

The reason there are two rates is China has tight controls on the range the yuan trades in China, but the yuan floats outside China.

In contrast to previous years where traders bet the value of the yuan would rise vs. the US dollar, traders are increasingly betting China will devalue.


Explaining Chinese Capital Flight

If China had no capital controls, the onshore and offshore rates would have to be identical otherwise there would be an instant guaranteed free money arbitrage opportunity in virtually unlimited size were China to maintain a peg the market did not agree with.

Here are a couple of charts that show what I mean.


Onshore Yuan

USD/CNY Daily Chart


Offshore Yuan

USD/CNH Daily Chart


Onshore / Offshore Rate Differentials

  • The onshore rate is 6.5567 per US dollar.
  • The offshore rate is 6.6993 per US dollar.


Another 2% Devaluation?

The onshore yuan is weaker than offshore by 0.1426. That a bit over 2%.

In the absence of capital controls one could make an instantaneous 2% on an unlimited amount of money. That such spreads exist shows that capital controls work, for the most part, at least for now.

However, capital controls are not perfect. Those able to skirt capital controls do so. One possible method of free arbitrage would be export/import trades that do not really take place, or simply padded higher.

Fraud of such nature cannot be unlimited. $1 trillion in sudden exports or imports is going to get caught, but smaller amounts can be hidden.

In addition, those sitting with a lot of money in a depreciating currency don't exactly like that outcome. Thus capital flight pressure is intense for two reasons.

One way or another (slowly over time, or by another 2% devaluation), the yuan appears destined to sink. When will it stop?


The Risk

The risk, as always is that things get out of hand. Repetitive devaluations could trigger a rash of competitive currency devaluations with Japan or the US entering the picture.

Meanwhile, devaluations will certainly trigger the ire of US Congress that views the trade imbalance with China as proof the yuan is undervalued. Donald Trump has stirred up that exact sentiment,

For further discussion, please see:


Currency Crisis Coming Up

When does pressure on the yuan cease? The answer may very well be "as soon as China floats the yuan and takes off capital controls".

I expect a full-blown currency crisis before that day.

On the other hand, if China floated the yuan right now, it could crash now. Take your currency crisis poison one way or another.

 

Back to homepage

Leave a comment

Leave a comment