Economics
Asia Won't Have a Yuan Anchor This Time, Unlike 1990s Crisis
- Expectations mount that China will let yuan weaken over 2016
- Risk is that devaluations spread, adding to region's strains
Pedestrians walk past a currency exchange store in Hong Kong.
Photographer: Xaume Olleros/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
China is casting Asia adrift. At least, when it comes to exchange rates.
That’s the view of analysts pointing out the potential implications of China this month moving away from a managed peg to the dollar. Under the previous regime, as the dollar moved, so moved the yuan. China thereby served as a "firewall" when other Asian currencies were collapsing during the region’s 1997-98 crisis, then U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers said at the time.