The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced on Friday that it will separately identify the renminbi (RMB) in its official foreign exchange reserves database beginning October 1, 2016.
The decision comes after in November last year the IMF voted that the Chinese currency is a freely usable currency and will be included in the SDR basket as a fifth currency, along with the U.S. dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen and the British pound. The latter changes are also effective October 1, 2016.
The IMF survey, known as Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves (COFER), lists the currency composition of holdings of Forex reserves across the IMF membership in the form of statistical aggregates. The separate identification of the RMB means that, as of October 1, 2016, IMF member countries will be able to record as official reserves their holdings of renminbi−denominated external assets that are readily available for meeting balance of payments financing needs.
Thanks to the change, the renminbi will join the group of currencies that are identified in the survey now: U.S. dollar, Euro, Yen, Pound Sterling, Swiss Franc, Australian Dollar, and Canadian Dollar. Other currencies are listed together.
You can view the full announcement from the IMF by clicking here.