DHAKA: China’s central bank has devalued the national currency, the yuan, to its lowest rate against the US dollar in almost three years.

The lender said the move was a ‘one-off depreciation’ of 1.9% in a move to make the exchange rate more market-oriented.

It comes in the wake of a string of weak economic data from the world’s second largest economy, the BBC reports on Tuesday.

At the weekend, China reported a sharp fall in exports and a slide in producer prices to a near six-year low in July.

Exports fell by 8.3% in July, far worse than expected and the producer price index was down 5.4% from a year earlier.

The midpoint for the yuan is now set at 6.2298 to $1, up from 6.1162 yuan on Monday.

The People’s Bank of China (POBC) manages the rate through the official midpoint, from which trade can rise or fall 2% on any given day.

Until now, it had been determined solely by the central bank itself.

Making the rate more market-based will mean the midpoint will now be based on overnight global market developments and how the currency finished the previous trading day.

BDST: 1258 HRS, AUG 11, 2015
RR