SWIFT has earlier today published the latest edition of its RMB Tracker, the monthly report that monitors the international adoption of the Chinese currency.
The yuan accounted for 1.76% of international payments by value in February 2016, down from a share of 2.45% in January 2016. Despite the fall, the Chinese currency remains at #5 in the ranking of world payments currencies, lagging behind the Japanese yen, which is at #4 with a share of 3.16%.
The top three world payments currencies remain the same, with US dollar at #1 with a share of 41.40%, followed by the Euro with a share of 31.47% and the British pound with a share of 8.78%.
The latest SWIFT RMB Tracker shows that in February 2016, 1,131 banks were using the RMB for payments with China and Hong Kong, representing 37% of all institutions exchanging payments with China and Hong Kong across all currencies. This is an 18% rise over the last two years. The bulk of these institutions are located in Asia-Pacific (557), followed by Europe (376), the Americas (124) and then Africa and Middle East (74).
Michael Moon, Head of Payments, Asia-Pacific at SWIFT, says,
“The global volume of payments in RMB fluctuates, and is actually down by value compared to last month, likely influenced by the seasonal effect of the Chinese New Year. Furthermore, as widely reported in the press, the number of days it takes to settle payments in RMB has grown to the highest level in many years. The adoption of the currency by more financial institutions, within Asia-Pacific and abroad, will however further increase the global utility of the RMB for payments and, over time, will drive continued internationalisation of the Chinese currency.”
You can view the full announcement from SWIFT by clicking here.