IMF staff recommends keeping current line-up of top currencies unchanged until October 2016

The staff of the International Monetary Fund is recommending that China wait until at least October 2016 to join an exclusive club of the world's top currencies.

China wants its currency, the yuan, included in a basket of currencies used in IMF operations along with the U.S. dollar, euro, British pound and Japanese yen. It was hoping the yuan could be added this Jan. 1. The IMF board will consider later this month the staff's recommendation for a delay until Oct. 1 of next year.

China believes it deserves to be included because it boasts the world's second-biggest economy. But the yuan is not as widely used as the other four currencies.