— Calls For Timetable On Yuan Inclusion In IMF’s SDR Basket
NANJING (MNI) – French President Nicholas Sarkozy said Thursday
that the international monetary system should be reformed immediately
and include a more prominent role for the Chinese yuan.
He told a G-20 seminar on international monetary system reform that
the “sharp, rapid” changes in exchange rates in recent months have
underlined the need for reform and that changes in the global economy —
particularly the rise of emerging market economies — should be
reflected.
“It is clear that we must evolve towards a more flexible exchange
rate system that will allow us to withstand shocks,” he said.
Sarkozy also called on delegates, including U.S. Treasury Secretary
Timothy Geithner and Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Qishan, to consider a
timetable for englarging the basket used to value the International
Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights to include emerging market
currencies such as the yuan.
He also said the IMF’s mandate should be extended to beyond
current account monitoring of its members.
The G-7 intervention to weaken the dramatic rise in the yen
following the March 11 Japanese earthquake also underlined the
importance of coordination, he said.
“For me, concerted intervention is an essential way of protecting
the international monetary system against deviation and excessive
volatility,” he said, adding that it should only be used as a last
resort.
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