Japan business lobby sees impact from big yuan move
Fri Jul 22, 2005
OYAMA, Japan, July 22 (Reuters) - The head of Japan's largest business lobby said on Friday a revaluation of the yuan by more than 10 percent would have a significant impact on the economies of Japan and Southeast Asia as well as firms operating in China.
China revalued its yuan currency by 2.1 percent on Thursday, linking it to a basket of currencies and abandoning a decade-old peg against the dollar.
The initial 2 percent revaluation was smaller than most Japanese firms expected, but a further rise could eventually prompt them to rethink their manufacturing strategy and lead to a shift of production facilities to other Asian nations.
"A double-digit revaluation would have a significant impact ... on the Japanese economy and Southeast Asian economies," said Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of both the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) and auto giant Toyota Motor Corp.
Okuda, speaking at a news conference after a business forum, said a revaluation of that size would affect companies importing and exporting goods into and out of China.
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