KIEV, Nov. 15 - Turning part of the National Bank of Ukraine's foreign currency reserves into the Chinese yuan requires careful analysis, as it could worsen the quality of reserves, Max Alier, the IMF Resident Representative for Ukraine, said.

The yuan is not a freely convertible currency so the issue of reserve quality could arise, he said at the sixth annual Adam Smith Institute Ukrainian Banking Forum, which opened in Kiev on Tuesday.

The IMF does not yet have information about talks between Ukraine and China's central banks, he said.