There has been much talk of the Chinese currency the Renminbi becoming the reserve currency of the world. If you were to look at the trading volumes you would think that they are not far off the mark. However the growth has been so large in the last few years mainly because it has come from such a low base. But the following points put it in perspective:
* The Renminbi is the 7th most used currency according to SWIFT a global transfer system
* The Renminbi accounts for only 1.4% of global payments – US dollar is 42.5%
* When you look at assets open to international buyers there are just $0.3 trillion of Chinese assets available compared to $56 trillion of American – this is one reason why the US dollar is liked as a global currency.
For the Renminbi to become a more dominant it has to become global. An easy way for this to happen is for China to run trade deficits as this will add to the global holdings of Renminbi on a daily basis. However China has traditional run surpluses which means that more foreign currency is coming into the economy. On the other hand the USA has run trade deficits which in effect adds to the global holdings of US$. However even if China did run deficits what could the holders of Renminbi do with it? China could open the Capital Account of the Balance of Payments which would encourage investment. There is still a long way to go before the Renminbi becomes the reserve currency.
ECONFIX 