The greenback’s share in central bank reserves has fallen to 56.3%, a report has said
The US dollar’s share of global foreign exchange reserves fell to its lowest in three decades in the second quarter of the year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday.
The greenback accounted for 56.3% of allocated reserves between April and June, down 1.5 percentage points from the previous quarter and the smallest proportion since 1995, although the drop was largely due to currency moves rather than active selling by central banks, the report said.
“Exchange-rate effects drove nearly all the decline in the US currency’s share of foreign exchange reserves,” IMF researchers Glen Kwende, Erin Nephew, and Carlos Sanchez-Munoz wrote. They estimated that about 92% of the fall was due to valuation shifts.
The dollar slid 9% against the euro, 11% versus the Swiss franc, and 6% against the pound sterling in the period, weighed down by US President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes, his pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut rates, and deficit-raising tax changes passed on July 4, according to the IMF.
Total allocated foreign exchange reserves stood at $12.03 trillion at the end of June.
In the first half of 2025, the dollar fell more than 10% against major currencies, marking its worst start to a year since 1973. The recorded downturn contrasted with the dollar’s traditional role as a safe-haven asset.
Russia has accelerated efforts to move away from the dollar and euro after many of its financial institutions were cut off from the Western financial system in 2022.
The country has ramped up trade with international partners using their national currencies. The trend has been increasingly supported by BRICS members, which have shifted from using Western currencies for trade settlements.
Major BRICS economies have already started reducing reliance on the dollar, as the weaponization of the greenback through sanctions has pushed businesses to look for alternative payment options.
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