More banks offer financial products in yuan

Yuan transactions of Philippine banks are expected to grow further this year as more financial institutions become acquainted with business opportunities in the Chinese currency, the central bank said last week. In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said growth would largely be driven by the Philippines’ partnership with China in areas of trade, tourism, education, agriculture and other economic sectors. Yuan bank notes used in trading in the Philippines posted “remarkable expansion" of more than 300 times to 174.6 million yuan as of December 2009 from just 500,000 yuan a year earlier. Five local banks launched their yuan deposit products in the last quarter, with one bank posting growth of more than 10 times from November to December last year. “Other local banks also expressed interest to offer renminbi-denominated products and services to their clients in the near future," the central bank said. The Monetary Board approved the inclusion of the Chinese yuan in the list of currencies convertible with the local central bank as early as three years ago. — GMANews.TV