RMB round-up: PBoC’s Yi says markets driving RMBi, BOC’s CIFED index stays in positive territory in October, Pakistan rejects renminbi in free trade zone

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Regulators:

• Markets, not the Chinese government, are the main force behind the promotion of renminbi internationalisation, said Yi Gang, deputy governor of the PBoC, according to a November 24 media report.

  The renminbi internationalisation project has made progress in the past five years despite the government taking a largely hands-off approach, he claimed. This demonstrates there is real demand in the international market for the wider usage of the renminbi, he said.

  Yi said that China remains committed to the goal of capital account liberalisation in the long term. He considered the central bank’s measures to halt progress on this front as necessary in light of volatility in capital flows and the exchange rate, but added that these restrictions will be gradually relaxed, according to the media report.

Bonds:

• The financing cost of renminbi bonds became cheaper offshore in October, according to Bank of China’s Credits Investment and Financing Environment Difference (CIFED) Index, which finished the month at 66.3 points – a positive value which shows RMB bond yields are higher onshore.

  But the gap between onshore and offshore yields narrowed in October, falling 42 points.

  The Export-Import Bank of China has cancelled its plans to issue up to Rmb10bn bonds this week, according to a November 22 notice on China Central Depository and Clearing. The policy bank did not give details on why it has postponed the deal. It also did not say when it will return to the market.

Belt and Road:

• Pakistan will not use the renminbi for transactions in the Gwadar free trade zone, which will be set up under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor framework, according to a November 21 local media report.

  China had wanted to use the renminbi – instead of the dollar or Pakistani rupee – in the zone to avoid exchange rate risk. But senior officials from Pakistan turned down the request at a meeting with their Chinese counterparts on Monday, noting that the use of renminbi in Pakistan would damage the country’s economic sovereignty, according to the media report.