HispanicBusiness

The international role of the euro remained relatively resilient during 2011, a report released by the European Central Bank (ECB) said.

The report named "The international role of the euro"examined developments in the use of the euro by non-euro area residents during the year 2011.

According to the report, the share of euro-denominated instruments fluctuated only marginally between 2010 and 2011 in the examined market segments compared with other major international currencies.

The share of euro-denominated instruments decreased by 0.4 percentage points in global holdings of foreign exchange reserves when adjusted for valuation effects. With regard to the turnover in foreign exchange markets, the share of the euro increased by around 1.5 percentage points , while it dropped by 1.3 percentage points in the stock of internationally issued debt securities after valuation adjustment, said the report.

The foreign investors' demand for euro area securities, in particular those of the high-yield sovereign issuers, dropped as a response to the euro area sovereign debt crisis, the report said in one of its four special feature articles.

Another special feature article suggests that the international monetary system might be already on its way of becoming tripolar, in that the Chinese RMB seems to be already assuming a gradually more important international role.

The report also presented new evidence suggesting that the U.S. dollar emerged indeed much earlier than previously thought as leading international financing currency in global debt markets.