Standard Chartered globalisation index up 4% to 841 in February

It's the fastest growth pace since August 2012.

In a statement, Standard Chartered announced that the Standard Chartered Renminbi Globalisation Index, or the RGI, reached a new high of 841 in February, up 4% from 809 in January. This translates to 64.5% year on year growth, the fastest pace since August last year.

The lead contributor to February RGI was the surge in Hong Kong CNH deposits, which was primarily driven by net outflows from mainland via trade settlement and the return of Chinese yuan (CNY) appreciation expectations.

Demand for dim sum bonds appears to increase as a wider range of investors get on board, which will drive the RGI higher in the future.

Data from Taiwan Central Bank and SWIFT payments showed a rapid increase in the use of Renminbi for cross-border trade in Taiwan, which is now the 4th largest offshore RMB centre for international payments. We expect Taiwan’s total Renminibi deposit pool to be on track to reach CNY100-150 billion by end-2013. This will push harder for its inclusion in the RGI.

Standard Chartered launched the RGI in November 2012. The Index covers the top three markets in offshore RMB business: Hong Kong, London, and Singapore. It measures business growth in four key areas: deposits (denoting store of wealth), Dim Sum bonds and Certificate of Deposits (as vehicles for capital raising), trade settlement and other international payments (unit of international commerce) and foreign exchange (unit of exchange). As the Renminbi further internationalises, there is capacity to include additional parameters and markets.