Chinese yuan weakens to 6.4814 against dollar Friday

The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, weakened by 57 basis points to 6.4814 against the U.S. dollar on Friday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trading System, Chinese leading financial and business information provider Xinhua Finance Agency reported.

In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2% from the central parity rate each trading day, the report says.

China's yuan falls for the tenth day in a row, a record losing streak.

Analysts attribute such actions of the Bank of China to the need to prepare for the yuan's inclusion in the basket of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) reserve currencies, known as Special Drawing Rights (SDR), in October next year. Some media suggest that the prospect of increased demand from central banks and investors, as a result of such decision, may result in the Chinese currency appreciation in the long-term.

As reported earlier, in late November, the IMF Executive Board included China's yuan in its SDR reserve currency basket.

Inclusion represents public acknowledgement of China's heft in the global economy.

The last time the SDR basket was modified was in 2000, when the euro replaced the German deutschemark and the French franc.