The Chinese yuan is today (Monday) set to join a select group of currencies by receiving reserve status from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The head of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, earlier this year supported the case for including the yuan. If it is included, it is likely that the Chinese currency will join the US dollar, the British pound, the euro and the Japanese yen next year.
If accepted, it will be the first change to the IMF basket of reserve currencies since 200, when the euro replaced the franc and deutschmark. China requested the yuan be added by the IMF last year.
Some analysts have suggested that if included, the yuan will be one of the top three international currencies in the world by 2030, alongside the dollar and euro. The yuan has so far not been included because of China's efforts to keep it artificially low in order to boost exports. But with the government set to implement a number of financial reforms over the next year, some members of the IMF are leaning more towards allowing the yuan's inclusion.
