Some of emerging Asia’s biggest central banks look to be dialling back their interventions in the currency market.The central banks of India and Malaysia have reduced the size of some derivatives positions they use to weaken their currencies. Taiwan has allowed its currency to surge against the US dollar in recent weeks and dropped hints it would be comfortable with more if the moves were “orderly”. South Korea’s giant national pension fund has ended its five-month support of the won.A major reason for these moves is a simple change in...
A recent report by the European Central Bank reveals that gold has overtaken the Euro as the second-highest foreign exchange reserve asset for the central banks. Well, this should not shock any of us. Gold has drawn a lot of attention from central banks in the past many years. It was only a matter of time before central bankers preferred gold to at least some of the paper currencies. Having said that, this is still a very surprising development. And it actually means a lot! You see, the dollar’s share...