Washington, Sep 22 (IANS): The inclusion of the Chinese yuan in the Special Drawing Right (SDR) basket by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an important milestone for the international monetary system, said a senior IMF official.

The preparations for the inclusion work continue on track, said Siddharth Tiwari, Director of the Strategy, Policy and Review Department of the IMF, at a press conference on the preparations of the new SDR basket.

Last year, the IMF decided to include the yuan in the SDR basket as a fifth currency, along with the US dollar, the euro, the Japanese yen and the pound sterling, effective from October 1, 2016.

"Inclusion of the Chinese yuan in the SDR basket is an important milestone in the process of China's global financial integration. It recognises and reinforces China's continuing reform efforts," said Tiwari.

The inclusion of the yuan will make the SDR basket more representative, and help foster a more robust international monetary and financial system, which in turn will support growth and stability of global economy, he said.

The inclusion also comes with responsibilities for China.

According to the official, China has promised that it will continue to improve its transparency of foreign exchange reserve portfolio and banking industry data.