Novidades

In separate articles published in Argentine daily La Nacion, experts offered their insights into the advantages of continued close cooperation with China.

The announcement Monday that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has included China's currency, the RMB, in its Special Drawing Rights (SDR) basket of currencies is big news not only for China, but also for Argentina, whose foreign currency reserves include a substantial amount of the RMB, financial expert Javier Blanco said.

In an article "An announcement that instills optimism into Macri's economic team," Blanco wrote that Federico Sturzenegger, future head of Argentina's central bank (BCRA) and Alfonso Prat-Gay, the incoming finance minister, as well as Mauricio Macri, Argentina's new president-elect, must be among those who most welcomed the IMF's decision.

The currency swap that funneled the RMB to Argentina's reserves, said Blanco, "provides the BCRA with the option of converting the portion of the reserves it maintains in RMB, if needed, to help calm the market."

Mercosur, or the Southern Common Market, is a sub-regional bloc composed of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.

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Published in: news.xinhuanet.com