China's central bank chief has blamed foreign speculators in part
for volatility in the yuan and said there is no basis for further
depreciation, according to an interview in Caixin magazine.
The Chinese economy grew 6.9 percent in 2015 -- the slowest rate
since 1990 -- and capital has been flowing out of the country due to
worries over flagging growth, causing the currency to weaken.
"International speculative forces have recently focused on shorting
China," People's Bank of China governor Zhou Xiaochuan said, according
to a transcript of the interview posted on the bank's website Saturday.
"They are eager to manufacture public opinion to try to force an
outcome as soon as possible," he said, but did not identify them.
Chinese state media has taken aim at investor George Soros for saying
at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos that a hard landing for the
world's second largest economy is "practically unavoidable".
In early January China guided the yuan -- also known as the renminbi
-- down by setting its daily fix lower for eight consecutive sessions,
representing a 1.4 percent fall, before it returned to stability.
