According to the report from the People's Bank of China (PBoC), China's foreign exchange reserves (the world's largest) rose again last month, and reached the highest level since December 2021, despite the strengthening of the US currency.
The PBoC said foreign exchange reserves increased to $3.246 trillion from $3.226 trillion in February. Economists had expected a decline to $3.21 trillion. The combined effect of factors such as exchange rate conversion and asset price changes contributed to the rise.
The US dollar index rose by 0.32% in March, while the yuan fell by 0.45% against the US currency.
The data also showed that China held 72.74 million fine troy ounces of gold (+0.16 million ounces compared to February). Meanwhile, the value of gold reserves increased by $12.43 billion to $161.07 billion.