Wow, surprise move by China.
My first thought was that it's an 'FU' response by China to the recent IMF decision not to include the Yuan in the SDR/Special Drawing Rights basket (decision was due in Oct). The IMF have indicated that inclusion of the Yuan won't happen until Fall of 2016 at the earliest, thus dashing China's hopes to gain clout within the IMF. Also, the US has been trying to get China to raise the value of the Yuan for years, so now China responds with an abrupt devaluation instead, out of the blue, a week after the IMF's negative decision on the SDR.
The West also screwed China in June when the promise to include the Shanghai Exchange's 'A' shares in the widely followed MSCI index was reversed, sending the Shanghai stock index into its 30% plunge. Inclusion in the MSCI would have meant trillions in new investment coming into China, and anticipation of this inclusion was a big factor behind the Shanghai index's huge runup since last Fall.
So.. it appears the US/West's war against the BRICS is heating up. Russia has been attacked by sanctions and the huge orchestrated drop in oil prices, and now China is being attacked by the West. Brazil is also in disarray. So the war to derail the BRICS juggernaut is accelerating. Bare knuckle time approaches?
