CRI听力:China Hopes RMB Included in SDR Basket in "Near Future"

The Chinese government is in talks with the International Monetary Fund about the possibility of including the renminbi in the IMF's basket of Special Drawing Rights.

SDRs are foreign exchange reserves which are allocated to member-countries by the IMF.

An SDR represents a claim to foreign currencies which can be exchanged in times of need.

Although denominated in U.S. dollars, the value of an SDR is calculated from a basket of currencies currently made up of the US dollar, the Japanese yen, the British pound and the Euro.

Yi Gang is the vice governor of People's Bank of China.

"Undoubtedly, adding the RMB to the SDR will be conducive to improving its representation and promotion within the international monetary system. I think it will accelerate China's reform and opening up in the financial sector."

To become a currency included in the SDR basket, the trade volume of goods and services behind that currency has to first be evaluated.

Chinese officials admit one of the issues which may exclude the renminbi from the SDR portfolio is it convertibility.

The IMF reviews the currencies in the SDR basket every five years.

The next review is set to be conducted later this year.