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[00:00.56]The International Monetary Fund (IMF) 
[00:03.72]added China's yuan to its group of key global currencies this week, 
[00:09.92]a historic development that gives new status to the world's second-largest economy.  
[00:17.48]It is "a sign that China is rising ever faster and further 
[00:22.52]on the global economic stage," reported the BBC.  
[00:28.00]China now accounts for more than 15 percent 
[00:31.88]of the global gross economic output, 
[00:35.52]nearly three times what it was a decade ago, said the Wall Street Journal.   
[00:41.96]The IMF said the yuan, also called the renminbi, 
[00:47.28]will be added to the group of reserve currencies.  
[00:51.52]Those include the U.S. dollar, Europe's euro, 
[00:57.36]the Japanese yen and the British pound. 
[01:01.76]These currencies are in the IMF's Special Drawing Rights group. 
[01:07.44]The IMF uses this group of reserve currencies 
[01:11.92]to make emergency loans to its 188 member nations.   
[01:18.44]The new IMF designation will take effect at the end of September 2016.      
[01:26.76]China had worked toward winning the designation for several years. 
[01:32.80]To achieve it, China had to give up some of its tight control over its currency 
[01:39.32]and make reforms in its financial sector, reported the New York Times.   
[01:45.44]The IMF decision reflects the declining influence 
[01:50.48]of Europe in world financial markets.   
[01:54.20]"The renminbi is mainly replacing 
[01:57.40]part of the euro's role in the special drawing rights," 
[02:01.20]wrote the New York Times. 
[02:03.92]It added that the renminbi is "quickly gaining ground on the euro."  
[02:09.32]In the new IMF designation, 
[02:13.18]the IMF will give more weight to China's currency 
[02:17.08]than to either the yen or the pound.  
[02:21.56]Despite the increased role for the yuan, 
[02:25.00]the U.S. dollar still dominates in finance and trade, 
[02:29.96]and is "the world's pre-eminent reserve currency,"  
[02:34.08]wrote the Wall Street Journal. 
[02:36.96]It is still the most widely used currency for savings around the world. 
[02:44.12]This is because investors feel confident 
[02:47.60]that they can get access to money traded in dollars.    
[02:53.00]Christine Lagarde is the IMF Managing Director.  
[02:58.00]She said the decision regarding the yuan  
[03:00.69]is "an important milestone 
[03:03.24]in the integration of the Chinese economy into the global financial system." 
[03:10.64]She added that it was also "a recognition 
[03:14.32]of the progress that the Chinese authorities have made 
[03:18.32]in the past years in reforming China's monetary and financial systems."  
[03:24.92]There are risks to being an IMF reserve currency. 
[03:30.20]China limits the ability of businesses and individuals 
[03:35.00]to transfer funds out of the country.  
[03:38.71]But the more China opens its markets, 
[03:41.72]the more it exposes its economy 
[03:44.44]to "the risk of capital flowing out," 
[03:47.24]noted the Wall Street Journal.  
[03:50.08]I'm Mary Gotschall.