IMF names Chinese yuan elite world currency

RMB banknotes
(Image credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)

The International Monetary Fund added the Chinese yuan to its list of elite world currencies Monday, a designation that acknowledges China's growing presence as a global economic power, The New York Times reports.

The yuan, also known as the renminbi, joins the dollar, the euro, the pound, and the yen in getting the nod from the IMF. It's a move that should allow for the yuan to be more widely traded in foreign exchange markets, Reuters reports. But at least for now, the addition to the Special Drawing Rights basket is primarily symbolic.

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Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.