China’s central bank, BIS set up renminbi liquidity arrangement

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s central bank said on Saturday it had signed an agreement with the Bank for International Settlements to establish a Renminbi Liquidity Arrangement (RMBLA) that will provide support to participating central banks in times of market fluctuations.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said the arrangement’s first participants, in addition to the PBOC, would include Bank Indonesia, the Central Bank of Malaysia, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Central Bank of Chile.

Each participant will contribute a minimum of 15 billion yuan ($2.2 billion) or the U.S. dollar equivalent, it said. The BIS said in a separate statement that the funds could be contributed either in yuan or U.S. dollars, and that they would be placed with the BIS, creating a reserve pool.

($1 = 6.6878 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Brenda Goh; Editing by Pravin Char)