Goldman Sachs started including yuan funds in its analysis of outflows in July, after noting that cross-border movement of the currency masked actual pressures. The bank estimates that 56 percent and 87 percent of outflows took place through the offshore yuan market in July and August, respectively. A Bloomberg gauge -- which doesn’t include direct yuan outflows -- estimates that more than $550 billion left the country this year through August.
“There have been $265 billion in net yuan outflows since last October through August, primarily due to trade settlement in yuan,” said Goldman’s Tang, citing data from the People’s Bank of China and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. “This flow has helped lessen the overall outflow pressure faced by China because it means that importers did not have to buy as much foreign exchange to pay for imports.”
