Chinese Reserve Growth Slowing Sharply : Outflows Now Replacing Inflows?

* Chinese foreign exchange reserves were $1.9537 trillion at the end of Q1 2009, only $7.7 billion higher than the fourth quarter, the slowest pace of reserve growth in 8 years, implying that China experienced capital outflows in January and February and possibly March.
* The currency reserves plunged by $32.6bn in January, the biggest monthly decline since the data series started in 1996. The holdings shrank by $1.4bn in February and expanded $41.7bn in March.