Experts and Analysts Not Terribly Concerned About the Prospect of China Using Yuan to Buy Saudi Oil

News that Chinese and Saudi Arabian officials are negotiating to use yuan instead of dollars to purchase oil sparked a surprisingly low-key reaction among political observers and market watchers. “While there has been some hyperventilating, the reaction is generally much less excited than it would have been,” said Peking University Finance Professor Michael Pettis in a five part Twitter thread.

Financial analysts were even more underwhelmed given the comparatively limited use of Chinese yuan around the world compared to the dollar, and the fact that the Chinese currency remains non-convertible and will likely stay that way for the foreseeable future. In essence, at least according to the analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, few saw this as a meaningful challenge to the dollar’s reign as the dominant global currency: