CGD in the News

China Yuan Could Challenge Dollar Role in a Decade (Reuters)

August 31, 2011

Senior Fellow Arvind Subramanian was quoted in a Reuters article on the Chinese Yuan's future role as the world's reserve currency.

From the article

Here's a bold prediction to feed Western worries that power is shifting inexorably to the East: China's yuan could overtake the U.S. dollar as the world's principal reserve currency as soon as next decade.

Beijing has been promoting the use of the yuan beyond its borders since 2009 to settle trade transactions. The resulting build-up of deposits in Hong Kong has spawned a thriving yuan bond market.

Internationalising the yuan, also known as the renminbi (RMB), brings with it a host of financial and political benefits. Notably, it allows China to build up claims on the rest of the world in yuan rather than increasing exposure to foreign currencies, especially a dollar that it distrusts.

Read it here