The value of China’s currency reached a 17-year high on Wednesday, fueling speculation that the central bank will use currency gains to help tame inflation, Bloomberg reported. The currency rose 0.06% to 6.4595 per dollar by the close of the market, after reaching 6.4556 per dollar mid-day, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System. This represents the strongest level since China unified the official and market exchange rates at the end of 1993. The increase was motivated partly by the central bank, which set its daily fixing for the renminbi 0.14% higher on Wednesday at 6.4592 per dollar, the highest since July 21, 2005, the day China ended its fixed exchange rate. “Officials are still keen to see currency appreciation as inflation is so high and exports are doing well,” said Brian Jackson, a senior strategist at Royal Bank of Canada (RY.NYSE) in Hong Kong.
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