The Australian dollar looks set to be classified as an official reserve  currency by the International Monetary Fund, in a sign of the dollar's rising  importance on global money markets.

With heavy buying by foreign central banks thought to have supported the  Aussie dollar in recent months, the fund is considering whether to add it and  the Canadian dollar to its list of official reserve currencies.

Today, only the US dollar, euro, pound, yen and Swiss Franc are classified as  official reserve currencies – those held in large quantities by foreign  governments.

But buried in a statistical report published late last week, the fund said it  was considering publishing data on the official reserve holdings of Australian  and Canadian dollars because of the growing foreign interest in these  currencies.

(c) http://www.smh.com.au/business/aussie-dollar-set-to-join-the-big-le...