‘Re-dollarization,’ not ‘de-dollarization’: Standard Chartered thinks fears over the U.S. dollar are overstated

When U.S. allies like Canada and France grumble about overuse of the U.S. dollar, and as Washington’s rivals like Iran start trading in cryptocurrencies and the Chinese yuan, it can be easy to argue that the world is edging away from the greenback. The U.S. dollar’s share of global foreign exchange reserves has fallen from 71% in 1999 to 57% in 2024, its lowest level in a quarter century.

But economists at Standard Chartered aren’t convinced.

“We’re not really in this de-dollarization camp,” Divya Devesh, Standard Chartered’s co-head of FX research for ASEAN and South Asia, said during a July 15 press briefing at the bank’s Singapore office. Instead, companies and investors are still clinging to the U.S. dollar.

“I actually see re-dollarization in the form of exporters keeping dollars, and investors still finding U.S. equities very........

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