The latest SWIFT RMB Tracker is out, showing that the Chinese yuan stayed at the fifth position in the ranking of world payment currencies in October 2015.
In October 2015, the RMB accounted for 1.92% of global payments. At the same time, RMB payments value decreased by 23.53% compared to September 2015, whilst in general all payments currencies decreased by only 2.42%. This substantial decrease may be attributed to seasonal effects like the Golden Week holiday in China.
In addition, SWIFT’s latest RMB tracker shows that the Chinese yuan is now the second most active currency for payments between Japan and China/Hong Kong. The RMB accounts for 7% of payments, by value, compared to 3% two years ago. In the last couple of year years, the RMB has jumped from position four to position two, overtaking the Hong Kong dollar and the US dollar.
Yuji Takei, Head of Japan at SWIFT, said,
“As China is one of Japan’s biggest trading partners, we have been monitoring the use of the Chinese currency in Japan for a while. In June 2015, a Japanese bank issued Japan’s first yuan bond and other Japanese companies are expected to follow that lead. This shows increased confidence in the RMB, which could lead to further expansion of trade and investment between China and Japan using the RMB.”
To view the official announcement from SWIFT, click here.