DBS launched a renminbi index in Hong Kong, offering a strategic tool for policymakers, businesses and investors to track the actual usage and acceptance of renminbi among Hong Kong companies, as well as their sentiment towards future renminbi adoption, the company said in an e-mailed statement on Friday.

By focusing on the level of renminbi usage and acceptance among Hong Kong-registered companies, the index aims to serve as the first benchmark to measure the pace of renminbi internationalization in Hong Kong.

For the fourth quarter of 2012, the index value was 54.9. All future readings of the index will be analyzed in relation to this initial reading.

Subsequent index values will be released on a quarterly basis and over time will reveal a lot more about the pace of development of Hong Kong as an offshore renminbi center. Corresponding policy recommendations can be drawn from analyzing the future time series. In future, the index may be extended to cover other countries, which are also offshore renminbi centers.