MAS to include RMB financial investments in FX reserves, shows growing international acceptance of the RMB

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced yesterday that it will include RMB financial investments as part of its official reserves from this month. The move is Singapore's strongest vote of confidence in the RMB to date, said Guy Harvey-Samuel, Group General Manager and CEO of HSBC Singapore.

In a statement, the Singapore central bank said that the move recognises the steady and calibrated liberalisation of China’s financial markets, as well as the growing acceptance of RMB assets in the global portfolio of institutional investors.

MAS said that it has been making RMB financial investments through China’s Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor and interbank bond market schemes since 2012. It noted that it was unable to do so previously due to the lack of RMB convertibility. It added that the Chinese authorities have since taken steps to open their capital accounts.