Offshore Yuan Drops Past 7 Per Dollar for First Time Since 2020

(Bloomberg) — China’s yuan weakened past a key 7 per dollar level for the first time in more than two years as a fragile economy and strength in the greenback weighed on the currency.

The offshore yuan fell 0.7% to 7.0186 per dollar, the lowest since July 2020. That was spurred by a rally in the greenback at the start of New York trading, as the latest U.S. inflation data fuels bets for a large Federal Reserve rate hike this month that would further widen China’s monetary-policy gap with the U.S. and drive outflows. The currency is also under pressure as Covid lockdowns and slowing exports growth hurt the economy.