Yuan devaluation may be boon for Bangladeshi businesses: experts

DHAKA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) — Recent devaluation of Chinese yuan against the U.S. dollar may be a boon for Bangladesh businesses, Bangladeshi experts said on Thursday.
Ahsan H Mansur, executive director at the country’s leading think-tank Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI), said Bangladeshi importers will have benefit from yuan devaluation following cheaper import of raw materials.
He said it is also to help Bangladeshi economy which could save around 100 million U.S. dollars on import cost.
The Chinese currency has been weakening against U.S. dollar since the beginning of 2016. In the first three trading days of 2016, the central parity rate of the yuan has down 378 basis points against the U.S. dollar.
Khandker Golam Moazzem, additional director at the country’s top leading think-tank, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), said Bangladeshi importers can now bargain on the prices of Chinese products as the Chinese exporters are gaining a dividend following the devaluation.
China is Bangladesh’s largest bilateral trading partner with around 8.0 billion U.S. dollars worth of imports and 800 million U.S. dollars exports yearly, said the expert.
He also expressed fear that if the devaluation trend continues it may erode Bangladeshi exporters’ competitiveness on the global markets.
“If the yuan continues falling it might emerge as threats for our export markets.”  Enditem