In “Beijing turns to currency to cool inflation“, the Associated Press gives a good summary of China’s current problems with inflation, including the following:
“Economists blame China’s inflation on the dual pressures of consumer demand that is outstripping food supplies and a bank lending boom they say Beijing allowed to run too long after it helped the country rebound quickly from the 2008 global crisis.
Attempts at price controls, subsidies for the poor and orders to local leaders to guarantee adequate vegetable supplies have had mixed results.”
The failure to control inflation to-date is forcing China to allow the currency to appreciate faster. The near-term increases still seem modest at 5% (against the dollar), so it will be interesting to see whether China continues pushing harder on non-currency methods.
China’s currency is not traded on open markets, but if it were, it seems the currency would soar given current conditions.