Good Bye Reserve Currency?

It was a bit of a shock to read James Politi writing in the Financial Times that the, "World Bank sees end to dollar’s hegemony."  The shock was not that the dollar will lose its status as the sole reserve currency in the long run, but that the source of the forecast was the World Bank.  The lead author of the report of the World Bank report was Mansoor Dailam.  He sees a "multi-currency system" with the euro, the renminbi, and the dollar playing roles.  Dr. Dailam argued the "shift will be driven by the increasing power and strength of emerging market economies, with six countries – Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Korea – accounting for more than half of global growth in 14 years."  From now to 2025, the World Bank pegs emerging economies as growing 4.7% and the developed economies barely hitting a 2.3% growth rate.

The FT quotes the report as saying, “The current predominance of the US dollar would end sometime before 2025 and would be replaced by a monetary system in which the dollar, the euro and the renminbi would each serve as full-fledged international currencies.”