NEW DELHI: Last week Uday Kotak, the founder and outgoing CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank, set the cat among the pigeons by alleging that the United States dollar, the world’s reserve currency, is a “financial terrorist”. He is not alone. Last month President Luiz Lula of Brazil, during a bilateral visit to China, too questioned the hegemony of the greenback. Undoubtedly, there is a growing chorus against the global domination of the US dollar. Especially, given the penchant of the Americans to weaponise its currency during geopolitical conflicts. Last year the United States and its allies imposed sanctions against Russia, following its invasion of Ukraine—this included shutting down the international payment gateways and freezing half of Russia’s $640 billion in foreign currency reserves. But is it conceivable for the world to undergo a dollar detox? And, indeed if this was to happen, will it trigger fresh disruptions—given that nearly 90 percent of global trade and financial transactions are denominated in the US dollar? To understand this and more we spoke to Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission.
