IMF in talks over yuan as reserve currency
Print Edition
CHINA is in talks with the International Monetary Fund for the Washington-based institution to add the yuan to its basket of reserve currencies, a top banking official said yesterday as Beijing seeks a greater global role for the unit.
It hopes the yuan will become part of the IMF’s “special drawing rights” (SDR) assets “in the foreseeable future,” said central bank deputy governor Yi Gang.
At present, SDRs are made up of only the US dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound.
But Yi said China’s rise to become the world’s second-largest economy had made the yuan the world’s second largest trade financing currency and sixth most widely used transaction currency.
Including the yuan in SDR will “undoubtedly” make the IMF’s unit more “representative” of the global economic landscape, said Yi, who is also head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.
“We are evaluating the matter and actively communicating with our colleagues at the IMF,” he told reporters.
The global lender’s executive board reviews the basket composition every five years, with the next examination set to take place this year.
Criteria for inclusion in SDR include both how widely a currency is used, and that it is “freely usable.”
“We hope our colleagues at the IMF will take into sufficient account the progress in the international use of the yuan and include the yuan into the SDR’s currency basket in the foreseeable future,” he added.
The country has set up yuan clearing arrangements with 10 countries and regions and signed currency swap agreements with 28 central banks.
Calls for the yuan to be included in the SDR basket emerged in the wake of the global financial crisis and the then IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn in 2011 said such a move would promote monetary stability. But the IMF later said it was not prepared to adjust the formula.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
