A Not-so-Mighty Yuan

Abstract

In the last chapter, we argued that structural changes in the global economy were eroding the dominance of the world’s leading (G3) currencies, notably the US dollar (USD), the Euro (euro) and the Japanese yen (JPY), shifting the balance of influence towards the emerging market (EM) currencies. These secular trends will unfold over the coming decades. A dark horse from the EM universe that will challenge the dominance of the G3 currencies is the Chinese yuan, or renminbi (RMB). Indeed, China has been internationalising the RMB since 2009. This begs the question of the credibility of the RMB to live up to its potential global currency status.