A few of the globe’s largest economies are investigating ways to get around the U.S. dollar as a result of its excessive strength and new weaponization.
Countries Leaving the U.S. Dollar
Also toying with de-dollarization are smaller countries, including at minimum 12 in Asia. Corporations across the globe are trying to sell a previously unheard-of proportion of their debt in different currencies out of concern for some more dollar solidity.
No one believes the U.S. dollar will be supplanted as the primary exchange medium anytime in the near future.
In the not-to-distant past, however, it was unimaginable for nations to investigate payment systems that circumvent the US dollar or the SWIFT system, which forms the basis of the worldwide financial system.
Presently, the overwhelming power of the dollar, using it under President Biden to impose sanctions on Russia this year, and new advances in technology are inspiring nations to begin eroding its hegemonic power.
In a Bloomberg podcast, Paul Tucker, an ex-deputy governor of the Bank of England, stated this would simply strengthen Russia and China’s attempts to run their portion of the global market without the dollar.
"What is emerging is a three-tier structure with the dollar still very much on top, but increasing bilateral payment routes and alternative spheres, such as the renminbi, that seek to seize on any potential US overreach."https://t.co/5KMVdwJW0u
— Michael Wan (@michaelwan_cc) December 22, 2022
John Mauldin, investment strategist and head of Millennium Wave Advisors with more than 30 years of market expertise, wrote in a letter this week that the Biden administration made a mistake by using the US dollar and the international payment system as a weapon.
Mauldin went on to say this will compel non-U.S. investment funds and countries to broaden their assets outside the conventional place of refuge of the United States.
Slowly slowly, the shift has already started. Technology, cost, speed, trade will drive it. https://t.co/d8s3OlwqvM
(Bloomberg) — King Dollar is facing a revolt. Most Read from BloombergI’ve Seen Trump’s Tax Returns and Now You Can, TooDonald Trump’s Taxes Reveal Big Losses…
— Swotta (@Swotsski) December 22, 2022
After the incursion on Ukraine, Russia and China increased their efforts to market their currency for international transfers, particularly by making use of blockchain technology.
Russia, for instance, began asking for currency compensation for energy shipments. Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, and Laos soon intensified their discussions with China to increase their usage of the yuan.
This month, India initiated the process of obtaining a bilateral payments system with the United Arab Emirates. Previously, India had been advocating for the globalization of the rupee.
U.S. Dollar Impacts Asia
However, it looks that progress is slow. Due to Bangladesh’s substantial trade deficits, for instance, Yuan balances have not gained popularity.
According to Salim Afzal Shawon, head of research at BRAC EPL Stock Brokerage Ltd. in Dhaka, “Bangladesh attempted to de-dollarize its commerce with China, but the movement is nearly entirely unidirectional.”
The United States and Europe’s decision to shut Russia off from the world’s economic messaging system recognized as SWIFT was a major impetus for these plans.
The measure, characterized by the French as a “financial nuclear bomb,” cut most big Russian banks off from an infrastructure that conducts tens of millions of daily transactions, compelling them to rely on their own, considerably smaller version.
This article appeared in The Patriot Brief and has been published here with permission.
