IMF Decides to Include China's RMB in SDR Basket

From CRIENGLISH.com

Reporter:

"The IMF[国际货币基金组织International Monetary Fund]'s executive board[执行委员会] decided that the renminbi qualified for the SDR[特别提款权Special Drawing Right，SDR] basket and existing criteria."

IMF执行董事会正式批准将人民币纳入特别提款权货币篮子，使之与美元、欧元、英镑和日元一道成为又一种新的国际储备货币。

Christine Lagarde, managing director[总经理; 常务董事/总裁] of the IMF, made the announcement[宣布] in Washington.

Lagarde says the decision is an important milestone[重要里程碑] in the integration[结合;整合;一体化;融合] of the Chinese economy into the global financial system[全球金融体系].

"The addition and the inclusion[包含;选入] of the renminbi in the SDR basket of currencies[货币; 流通; 市价] is a recognition[认可] of the significant reforms[重大改革] which have been conducted, of the significant opening up of the Chinese economy, of the financial, more market-driven principles[市场驱动原理;原则] that are being used by the Chinese authorities going forward. That is clearly symbolic[象征的，象征性的] in a way of all those reforms, which is why I associated the renminbi inclusion with the reforms conducted and to be continued."

人民币进入SDR将是中国经济融入全球金融体系的重要里程碑，这也是对于中国政府在过去几年在货币和金融体系改革方面所取得的进步的认可。

According to IMF, the RMB will have a weighting of 10.92 percent in the new SDR basket, while the respective weighting of other currencies in the basket are 41.73 percent for the U.S. dollar, 30.93 percent for euro, 8.33 percent for the Japanese yen and 8.09 percent for the British pound.

人民币权重为10.92%。美元权重为41.73%，欧元为30.93%，日元为8.33%。在人民币未“入篮”之前，美元、欧元、英镑和日元四种货币的权重分别为百分之45%、36%、10和9%。

Tan Yaling, Head of China Forex Investment Research Institute[中国外汇投资研究所], believes the move is a recognition of Chinese currency in the international society[国际社会对中国货币的认可].

“After the inclusion to SDR, RMB can be used for settlements[解决;结算;金钱或财产的转让;移民] among central banks. It's good to improve its international standings and we should seek this opportunity to strengthen our real economy."

RMB was rejected[拒绝;落选] into the inclusion of SDR five years ago on the basis of not "freely usable".

During the past five years, Chinese authorities have undertaken a series of reforms, such as improving its foreign exchange rate formation system, and opening up its interbank bond[银行间债券/纽带] and forex markets[外汇市场].

According to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication[环球银行金融电信协会(SWIFT)], renminbi now ranks fifth as a global payments currency[全球支付货币] and seventh as a global reserve currency[全球储备货币].

Huang Yiping, an adviser[顾问] to China's central bank, explained how the inclusion will affect people's lives in the future.

"That RMB being included in the SDR basket means that it is now one of the most important currencies globally. It is a great push in making the RMB truly international, and encouraging individuals and organizations of all countries in the world to hold it as well as invest it,"

Huang adds that the inclusion of the RMB into the SDR also reduces the exchange rate risks[汇率风险] of financing, and lowers the trade costs[贸易成本] when Chinese people shop abroad.

The IMF's Special Drawing Rights[特别提款权SDR] basket is a type of international reserve asset[国际储备资产] that IMF members can turn to in times of need.

The basket is currently made up of[由…组成，由…构成] the US dollar, the euro, the British Pound and the Japanese Yen.

It's composition[组成] is reviewed every five years.

The inclusion of the RMB will take effect[生效] Oct. 1, 2016.

For CRI, this is He Fei from Washington.