(VOVworld) - The International Monetary Fund on Monday said it had adopted a new methodology for calculating the currency amounts in the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) the fund uses for transactions.

Chinese 100 yuan banknotes are seen on a counter of a branch of a commercial bank in Beijing, China, March 30, 2016. (File photo: Reuters/Kim Kyung-Hoon)

The IMF said this is a technical preparation to ensure that China's yuan meets the IMF Board's intended weighting.

The new method will be easier to replicate on a simple spreadsheet, providing more transparency to market participants.

The changes will apply to a rebalancing of the SDR basket on October 1^st to include the yuan for the first time, a step that gives China prized reserve currency status and moves the yuan a step closer to being freely usable internationally.