Renminbi may become fourth most used currency: People’s Daily

Report says the International Monetary Forum had raised the RMB Internationalisation Index from 0.02 in 2009 to 2.47 in 2014

A bunch of Renminbi notes displayed in this file photo. A media report said in Beijing on Monday that this Chinese currency may become the world’s fourth most-used international one, replacing the Japanese yen.

China’s renminbi (RMB) may become the world’s fourth most-used international currency, replacing the Japanese yen, a media report said here on Monday.

The People’s Daily quoted Chen Yulu, president of Renmin University of China, as saying that the International Monetary Forum had raised the RMB Internationalisation Index from 0.02 in 2009 to 2.47 in 2014. The top three currencies are the dollar, the euro and the British pound, although the listing varies, depending on which criteria is being used.

Higher acceptance level

The daily said that the level of acceptance of RMB worldwide had gone up significantly. Cross-border RMB flow reached 6.55 trillion in 2014, seeing a rise of 41.6 percent. RMB constitutes 2.96 percent of worldwide trades, seeing a direct investment amount of 1.05 trillion. RMB, also known as the yuan, had now become the world’s second trade-finance currency, fifth payment currency, and sixth foreign-exchange currency, Mr. Chen said.

RMB will see a greater surge in market share, the report added.

In January 2014, RMB had surpassed the Swiss franc to become the seventh most-used currency in the world, according to SWIFT, the global transaction services organisation.