Yuan hits 19-year high

China’s central bank allowed the yuan to appreciate beyond 6.21 to the dollar, the highest value in 19 years, Bloomberg reported. The yuan joined several emerging markets currencies that appreciated on Monday as a bailout plan for Cyprus drove demand for assets in the developing world. “A stronger exchange rate could help China tame inflationary pressures and boost domestic consumption by lowering prices of imports,” Daniel Chan, vice president at Glory Sky Global Markets in Hong Kong, said. The 0.03% increase in the central bank’s daily fixing rate may have been a sign to other major emerging markets that China is willing to balance trade deficits.