Brussels, 30/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - This Thursday 31 March, finance ministers, central bankers and academic experts from the G20 will discuss the reform of the international monetary system, at a seminar in the Chinese city of Nanjing, with China and France as joint hosts. At the meeting, Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn will represent the European Commission.
Currently in the chair of the G20 (EUROPE10300), French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who will open the debate, will point out that a reform of this kind will not aim to return to a fixed exchange system, nor to call into question the leading role of the dollar, but instead to recognise the increased role of Beijing on the international financial stage. Why not do so by integrating the yuan into the raft of currencies which make up the DTS, the unit of account of the International Monetary Fund.
The Chinese authorities do not oppose a development of this kind, which is mainly symbolic, according to observers. More concerned by capital flows seeking fast profits on Chinese soil, they are against having the controversial subject - the relative weakness of the yuan - included on the agenda of the Nanjing seminar. At the most recent “Finance” G20 in Paris, China also refused to allow effective exchange rates and reserve currencies to feature on the list of indicators to be used to analyse international micro-economic imbalances (EUROPE 10320). (M.B./transl.fl)