G7 agrees Chinese currency should be in IMF currency reference basket
The G7 has agreed that the Chinese yuan should be part of an international basket of reference currencies.
German Finance Minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, announced the decision after a meeting of G7 finance ministers and central bank governors.
However, he told a press conference that there was no need to rush the process. He said:
There are technical issues and not just technical ones. We are in full agreement on the goal, but it would not be good to rush it.
Beijing has been pushing for its currency – known as the yuan or renminbi – to play a greater role in the global financial system.
It wants its currency to be included in the basket – which makes up the International Monetary Fund's "special drawing rights" reserve currency.
The move follows a previous statement by the IMF which said that China's currency is "no longer undervalued", marking a major shift from its criticism of Beijing’s tight management of its currency. This contradicted Washington's long-held claims that the yuan was manipulated.