China to Widen Daily Yuan Band versus USD

China’s central bank will expand the daily yuan trading band against the U.S. dollar to 1% in either direction from 0.5% starting on Monday in a bid to support the economy and ward off a precipitous slowdown.

The announcement follows on the heels of data on Friday which showed that China’s first-quarter gross domestic product growth slowed to 8.1% from 8.9% in the previous quarter.

The pace was the slowest in 11 quarters as weak exports and sluggish construction activity took a toll on the world’s second largest economy.

 

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