Singapore's offshore market on the upswing

[SINGAPORE] Demand for offshore yuan in Singapore appears to continue unabated, amid optimism over greater trade flows between China and Asean and as financial markets in Asia - including forex derivatives - are expected to deepen.

But the yuan is not an international trade currency yet, said banking executives at an offshore-yuan conference yesterday, noting that most corporates are only engaging in yuan-denominated trade financing if the counterparties are Chinese.

The total value of yuan-denominated loans - which are mainly related to trade finance - in Singapore at the end of last year stood at over 300 billion yuan (S$62 billion), up by about 25 per cent from March last year, said Leong Sing Chiong, assistant managing director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).