LAC Interested in Trading with China in RMB

MONTEVIDEO -- Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has strong interest in using the Chinese renminbi as currency of settlement in bilateral trade, a senior Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) adviser said in Montevideo on Sunday.

As the LAC has been trying to diversify its foreign reserve and currency of settlement in trade, the region is eagerly looking forward to the use of renminbi as currency of settlement in trade with China, Andrew Powell, IADB's principal advisor, told Xinhua.

It will be a win-win situation for both sides if China actively promotes the use of renminbi as currency of settlement in trade with the LAC, Powell said in Montevideo, where the 53rd annual meeting of IADB's Board of Governors is going on.

He said there would be little technical barriers in operation.

"The more currencies you have, the lower the risks are" for the LAC, Powell noted.

China has become the third largest foreign investor in the LAC after the United States and the European Union, Powell said, citing a latest report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

"I see no problems for the LAC to trade in the Chinese renminbi. On the contrary, that will help internationalize the Chinese currency and, at the same time, lower the currency risks for the (LAC) region," he said.