The International Monetary Fund has decided that China’s currency will not be included in a basket of reserve currencies for at least a year, delaying a move some had expected to take place as soon as January even as it took pains to stress the decision was largely procedural.

国际货币基金组织(IMF)已决定，至少在一年内，人民币不会被纳入其储备货币篮子，尽管它竭力强调这一决定在很大程度上是出于程序上的原因。有些人曾预期IMF最早在明年1月就会把人民币纳入储备货币篮子，IMF的上述决定让这一天的到来向后推迟了。

The IMF is due to decide by the end of the year whether to include the renminbi in its so-called special drawing rights, the elite group of currencies it uses to determine the value of its own de facto currency.

IMF定于在今年底决定是否将人民币纳入所谓的特别提款权(SDR)货币篮子。这个篮子由多种最重要的货币组成，IMF用它来确定其事实上的货币的价值。

The decision depends on the IMF determining just how “freely usable” the tightly controlled Chinese currency has become. The push for inclusion has been driving a series of reforms by Beijing, which is keen to see the renminbi labelled a reserve currency alongside the dollar, euro, yen and sterling.

该决定的结果，依赖于IMF对人民币“可自由使用”程度的认定。目前，人民币仍是一种受到严格管控的货币，而中国政府急于看到人民币贴上“储备货币”的标签（就像美元、欧元、日元及英镑那样）。为了推动将人民币纳入这个篮子，中国政府已开展了一系列改革。

The bid for SDR inclusion is also among the factors cited by observers as being behind last week’s move by the People’s Bank of China to allow a greater role for markets in setting the daily trading band for the renminbi, which prompted the two biggest daily swings in the currency since the 1990s.

此外，观察人士指出，上周中国央行允许市场在设定人民币汇率的过程中发挥更大作用，背后的动机之一也是要推动将人民币纳入SDR货币篮子。中国央行上周的举措导致人民币汇率出现了自上世纪90年代以来的两个最大单日跌幅。

But the IMF said on Wednesday its board had decided that if it opts later this year to include the renminbi in the SDR basket, the move will not take formal effect until September 2016.

但IMF却在周三表示，其执行董事会已经决定，即便该机构今年晚些时候选择将人民币纳入SDR货币篮子，也要到2016年9月才会生效。

This potentially gives China more time to enact reforms, although most if not all would have to be in place before the IMF board makes its decision, which is expected in November.

这可能会让中国有更多时间来实施改革，尽管多数（如果不是全部）改革举措在IMF执行董事会做出纳入不纳入的决定前就得到位。这一决定预计会在今年11月做出。

The extended timeframe also signals the monumental complexity of adding a currency to the IMF’s reserve basket, a manoeuvre last carried out at the birth of the euro in 1999.

这一时间表的延长也表明，IMF将一种货币纳入其储备货币篮子的过程极为复杂。IMF上次展开类似调整，是在1999年欧元诞生的时候。

The decision, the IMF said, was based on a staff recommendation made in a report last month and in response to requests from “SDR users” — other member countries that receive IMF loans — for a “sufficient lead time to adjust” to the new currency basket.

IMF表示，做出这一决定，一方面是基于IMF工作人员在上月一份报告里提出的建议，一方面是为了回应“SDR用户”（指接受IMF贷款的其他成员国）的要求。这些SDR用户要求“留出足够的时间来适应”新货币篮子。

The IMF said the decision had in effect been taken on August 11, during the board’s annual summer break, because the time for objections had lapsed. It had not been announced before Wednesday because IMF rules give staff seven days to prepare announcements, the IMF said.

最重要的是，IMF表示：“批准延长现货币篮子的使用期，无论从哪方面来说，都不构成对（SDR评估）结果的预判。预计执行董事会将在今年晚些时候就评估展开正式讨论。”