The RMB became the second largest currency in SWIFT

The share of the RMB in the settlement of transactions via the international payment system SWIFT rose to a record high of 5.8% in September, which made it overtake the euro as the second major currency in trade, RIA Novosti reported based on an analysis of data from the SWIFT system.

The main trade currency in September remained the US dollar, with a share of 84.15 percent. Meanwhile, the dollar has been below 85% since last December, something that hasn’t happened since the beginning of 2018.

The RMB rose to second place for the first time, its share soaring by 1 % point in a month to 5.8%, an absolute record for the RMB. The euro fell one place in this ranking: its share of trade settlements dropped by 1% point to 5.43%.

The top 5 also includes the yen (1.4%) and the Saudi riyal (0.56%).

Argentina and China have agreed to expand their currency swap by $6.5 billion, which will allow Argentina to service its debt without using dollar reserves, according to Argentine President Alberto Fernandez.

In November 2022, Argentina agreed to expand the swap agreement to maintain central bank reserves. Fernandez said at the time that the country was authorized to “freely hold” 35 billion RMB , or about $5 billion.

In addition, at the end of April, the Argentine government announced that it was switching to paying for imports from China in RMB to solve the problem of maintaining central bank reserves.