China may make a "symbolic" gesture of addressing overseas complaints about its currency policy by slightly loosening the yuan's peg to the dollar before the end of the year, a former top currency guru said Tuesday.
But China probably won't make major changes until late 2006, Eisuke Sakakibara, formerly known as "Mr. Yen," said in a speech to reporters in Tokyo.
"It's likely (China's government) will conduct some kind of major reform of domestic Chinese markets and their foreign-exchange market sometime late in 2006 and early 2007" to meet its pledge to the World Trade Organization, Sakakibara said. "But I wouldn't rule out China making a symbolic move in response to political pressure."