China Feb FX reserves fall to lowest since Dec 2011

March 10, 2016 | 03:53 am PT

Beijing - China's foreign exchange reserves, the world's largest, fell by $28.57 billion in February to $3.20 trillion, the lowest since December 2011, central bank data showed on Monday.

The decline was slightly less than the $30 billion decrease that economists polled by Reuters had expected, and compared with a drop of $99.5 billion in January.

China's reserves have now fallen four months in a row as the central bank dumps dollars to ease depreciation pressure on the yuan and prevent an increase in capital outflows.

China's gold reserves stood at $71.01 billion at the end of February, up from January's $63.57 billion, according to data published by the People's Bank of China on its website.

China's International Monetary Fund (IMF) reserve position was at $10.73 billion, up from $3.76 billion the previous month. It held $10.28 billion of IMF Special Drawing Rights at the end of last month, compared with $10.27 billion at the end of January. - Reuters