Yuan's recent fluctuation not intended depreciation: Lagarde

Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde said on Thursday that she would not characterize the recent increased variation of China's yuan as an intended depreciation of the currency, but a move in the direction of yuan's internationalization.

"Certainly we welcome the internationalization of the renminbi going forward. I believe there will be steps in that direction going forward," Lagarde said at a news conference held before the IMF-World Bank Spring meeting due to open on Friday.

"China is playing a key role with 7.5 percent growth target for 2014, it is clearly contributing significantly," she said, noting she took great comfort from the fact that the rebalancing that the IMF has advocated over time is also the intended policy by authorities.

Having appreciated by more than 20 percent since China introduced a more market-based exchange rate regime in 2006, yuan weakened by about 2 percent in the past months as the People's Bank of China (PBOC), or China's central bank, said it reflected the two-way fluctuation.

Yi Gang, deputy governor of the PBOC, said during a panel discussion in John Hopkins University on Thursday that, compared with other currencies, yuan's recent fluctuation is small and within the normal range.

China's exchange rate policy is market-determined and that trend will be more apparent in the mid-to-long term, he said.