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Islamabad (People’s Daily)- The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has approved the use of the Chinese yuan (CNY) for imports, exports and financing transactions.

“The CNY is an approved foreign currency for denominating foreign currency transactions in Pakistan. Both public and private sector enterprises are free to choose CNY for bilateral trade and investment activities,” the bank said in a statement on Tuesday.

SBP also mentioned that it has already put in place the required regulatory framework which facilitates the use of CNY in trade and investment transactions.

In terms of regulations in Pakistan, CNY is at par with other international currencies such as the US dollar, euro and the Japanese yen, the statement added.

After signing the Currency Swap Agreement (CSA) with the People’s Bank of China (PBoC), SBP had taken a series of steps to promote the use of the CNY in Pakistan for bilateral trade and investment with China.

“Considering recent local and global economic developments, particularly with the growing size of trade and investment with China under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), SBP foresees that CNY denominated bilateral trade will increase significantly and will yield long-term benefits for both countries,” the bank added.

Local media reported that Salman Shah, economic analyst and former government adviser on finance, welcomed the SBP´s move, saying that avoiding dollar transactions in the implementation of CPEC would "simplify matters very considerably.”

The Chinese economy is now one of the biggest in the world, he said, justifying the use of the Chinese currency.