Chinese Yuan - The Most Used Currency In International Payments (Image: Pixabay)
China’s Yuan has journeyed a long way. The Chinese currency, is now, the second major currency in the world, in settlement of trade through SWIFT, the platform for international payments and settlements. Yuan overtook the Euro for the first time to stand as the second major currency. The Euro now, is the third among the most used currency in the international payments system.
The Yuan’s shift in ranks was stated by the data from international Swift system, reported TASS, the Russian News Agency. The Chinese currency’s share in the international payments stream has gone up to 5.8 percent in September 2023, from 4.82 percent in August 2023. This the statistics to the payments say, is the highest in the past five years. Earlier, in April, the Reuters had also reported on the growing use of Chinese Yuan in cross-border transactions.
The first position is still held by the US Dollar. The share of Dollar in trade settlements in September was 84.15 percent, from the 83.95 percent of August. The place for the third most used currency for trade settlements belonged to the Euro. The currency’s share in September was 5.43 percent, which showed a decrease from August’s recorded 6.43 percent.
The fourth in ranking for most used currency in Swift payments was taken up by the Japanese Yen. The Yen’s share increased from 1.28 percent in August to 1.4 percent in September. The Yen is trailed by the Saudi Arabia’s Riyal, with the Riyal indicating a share of 0.56 percent in the international currency settlement in September, from the reported 0.63 percent in August. The Riyal has gone down in September, considering the previous months registered 0.63 percent.
SWIFT or Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is the largest platform for international, cross-border financial settlement and payments. It is headquartered in Belgium and is overseen by the G-10 central banks. The platform interconnects over 11,000 banks, financial institutions and corporations in over 200 countries and territories, its website said. The method has also been used to impose sanctions on countries like Iran, Belarus and Russia.
