IMF Special Drawing Rights will not emerge as a reserve asset to challenge the dollar, but they could be used to reduce the risks of a destabilising flight by reserve holders from the US currency.

The People’s Bank of China is again calling for an alternative to the dollar as the world’s major reserve currency. Words are cheap. There is strong evidence that central bank purchases of dollars...

World trade may be close to stabilising after the unprecedented slump that began last September, but there are few signs yet of a meaningful recovery. We now expect merchandise trade volumes to fall...