Northeast Asia

China’s Ministry of Finance is gearing up to issue three month government bonds every week starting from next month as part of its efforts to get the renminbi into IMF's Special Drawing rights (SDR) basket, according to several sources close to the matter.

In the confusing world of China’s investor access programmes, one thing regulators have made clear is that hedge funds are not welcome. The launch of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect gave the industry access the mainland markets, but the recent stock market trouble has seen regulators take a much harder stance.

In the wake of a selloff despite People’s Bank of China easing, the China Financial Futures Exchange implemented a series of new rules designed to stop the pain.

The IMF board of directors approved on August 11 a suggestion by IMF staff to extend the current composition of the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) facility to September 2016, the IMF said in an August 19 statement. The timeline for a decision on the possible inclusion of the RMB, however, remains unchanged, with the board set to meet in November.

Last year's launch of the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect and the technical challenges that followed it highlight the need for continued harmonisation of market practices, according to Omgeo, a post-trade processing firm.

A second day of weakening in the People's Bank of China (PBoC) fixing of the onshore renminbi (CNY) by 1.6% on August 12 saw analysts divided between seeing the new fixing system as a positive step for the reform agenda while also warning that sharp and rapid depreciation of the RMB did not bode well for the currency's global appeal.

The People's Bank of China (PBoC) has changed its daily exchange rate fixing methodology to make it more related to market levels, in a move that analysts saw as helping the renminbi's case for inclusion in the International Monetary Fund's SDR basket.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) should take into consideration renminbi transactions involving Hong Kong when assessing the currency's international usage, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has told GlobalRMB. The current treatment excludes such flows, but even partial inclusion could tip the scales for the RMB's eligibility for the IMF's Special Drawing Rights (SDR).

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has not announced any delay to its decision on whether to include the renminbi in its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) facility. Is that clear enough for everyone?

Recommendations on foreign exchange and interest rate reform in China were at the heart of this week's International Monetary Fund's interim report on its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) review, despite the market's more immediate focus on the report's suggestion that addition of the renminbi to the SDR could involve a nine-month preparation period after any decision later this year.

The renminbi is unlikely to be added to the basket of currencies underlying the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights (SDR) facility until October 2016, even if the IMF Executive Board were to recommend inclusion when it announces the results of its review later this year, according to an IMF report on Tuesday night.

A positive outcome to this year's review by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of the potential inclusion of the renminbi into its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) facility could give a boost to interest in the currency from sovereigns, supranationals and agencies (SSAs), say market participants. Meanwhile, the IMF review is progressing, with the multilateral busy gathering data on trading flows.