China Foreign Reserves Fall To Lowest Since May 2012

Before the start of the trading week, the People’s Bank of China reported that foreign reserves totaled $3.23 trillion in January, higher than the $3.21 trillion forecast but a drop from December’s $3.33 trillion reading. The print was the lowest foreign reserves reading since May 2012.

Financial news-outlets have speculated that the drop in China’s reserves can be used as a measure to gauge the PBoC’s effort to mitigate capital flight and slow the Yuan’s depreciation. The globe’s second largest economy has been one of the primary catalysts for risk-off trading since the beginning of 2016. The markets’ are concerned about China’s economic slowdown and the ability of the government to smoothly transition to a service oriented economy.