Weak RMB spurs new capital outflows

More money is leaving the world’s No. 2 economy again, threatening Beijing’s strategy of letting its currency weaken in a controlled fashion. In the latest evidence of a surge in outflows, China’s foreign reserves plunged $45.7 billion in October from the previous month to $3.12 trillion, The Wall Street Journal reports. That is the largest drop since January, suggesting that outflows could be edging back up to the record-breaking levels of late last year and early this year. As much as $78 billion may have left China in September, according to Goldman Sachs, which has its own measure of outflows, the largest amount since the $100 billion-plus the firm estimates left the country in December and again in January. Analysts say October outflows are poised to be large as well.