RMB 4th currency in global payments

BEIJING: The Chinese currency renminbi (RMB), or the yuan, retained its spot as the fourth most active currency for global payments by value in February, according to a report.

The RMB’s global share stood at 4 percent last month, a report from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial (Swift) said. Swift is a global provider of financial messaging services.

The RMB payments value decreased 20.47 percent compared to January, while in general all payments currencies decreased by 10.37 percent, said Swift.

In terms of international payments excluding payments within the eurozone, the RMB ranked fifth with a share of 2.78 percent in February.

China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the largest market for offshore RMB transactions, taking up 79.9 percent, followed by Britain at 5.37 percent and Singapore at 3.39 percent, the report said.