On August 2, 2011, a photograph of US $100 currency notes was shot in Tokyo, Japan. Yuriko Nakao/Yuriko Nakao/Yuriko Nakao/Yuriko Nakao/Yuriko Nakao/ Reuters, NEW YORK, June 30 – According to IMF data released on Wednesday, the dollar’s share of currency reserves reported to the IMF increased to 59.5 percent in the first quarter of this year, up from 58.9 percent the previous quarter. The dollar continues to be the most widely held currency reserve by central banks around the world. Global reserves are assets kept by central banks in various currencies that are primarily used to support their liabilities and are published in US dollars. Reserves are occasionally used by central banks to help support national currencies. Following the release of the IMF data, Shaun Osborne, chief FX strategist at Scotiabank in Toronto, stated in a research note, “Given the U.S. dollar’s larger gains through Q1, the growth in U.S. dollar’s holdings may be more visible than actual.” In the first quarter, the dollar index increased by 3.6 percent. He went on to say that “broader patterns definitely emphasize the gradual shift away from the US currency in reserve holdings.” According to IMF data, the peak allocation for the US dollar was 72.7 percent in Q2 2001, and while currency diversification has progressed at a slow pace, the trend has been consistent, according to Osborne. The value of US dollar reserves fell to $6.991 trillion in the first quarter, down from $6.996 trillion in the fourth. Reserves held in euros, meanwhile, decreased 4.4 percent to $2.415 trillion on a quarterly basis. In the first three months of the year, the euro’s share in the market fell to 20.6 percent, down from 21.3 percent in the last quarter of 2020. Its fourth-quarter market share was the highest since 2014. The euro had its greatest percentage of foreign exchange reserves, at 28 percent, in 2009. In the first quarter, the Chinese yuan’s share grew to 2.4 percent, up from 2.2 percent in the previous three months. China’s share has risen for five quarters in a row, with yuan reserves up 7% to $287 billion. In 2017, the IMF began tracking the yuan’s share of the global economy. Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss contributed reporting.
Marguerita Choy and Jonathan Oatis edited the piece.
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