IMF Says China Market Turmoil Won’t Affect Reserve-Currency Bid

The International Monetary Fund said China’s market turmoil won’t affect the nation’s bid this year for reserve-currency status from the lender, after the government intervened with a barrage of measures to stem a plunge in stocks.

The IMF’s review is focused on “a well-defined set of criteria,” including longer-term efforts to open the nation’s financial system and develop capital markets, fund spokesman Gerry Rice said Thursday at a regular press briefing in Washington. “It’s not something that would be decided on the basis of short-term market movements,” he said.