German central bank to include yuan in its reserve pile
Bundesbank board member says it will follow in footsteps of ECB but doesn’t indicate how much it will invest
Deutsche Bundesbank, the central bank of Germany, has decided to include the yuan in its reserves, a board member of the bank said on Monday in an endorsement of the Chinese currency’s international clout.
Bundesbank board member Andreas Dombret told the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong that the German central bank was following in the footsteps of the European Central Bank by diversifying part of its reserves into yuan, also known as renminbi.
“The [renminbi] is used increasingly as part of central banks’ foreign exchange reserves,” Dombret said. “For example, the European Central Bank included RMB but also other European central banks did so. And I can today say that also the German central bank has decided to include RMB in our currency reserves.”
He did not elaborate on the amount or percentage of the central bank’s planned yuan assets.
The ECB, of which Germany is a leading authority, last year invested €500 million (US$609.8 million) into yuan.
The International Monetary Fund included the yuan in its basket of special drawing rights in 2016, giving it a nominal status as an international reserve currency.