Pacific Asia: on the Way to Currency Diversification

In the context of aggravation of geopolitical and geoeconomic processes, one of the obvious trends in the international monetary sphere is the improvement of the positions of regional currencies, their diversification, aimed at a gradual move away from the dollar as the leading reserve and payment currency. Although the American currency still retains the role of the main settlement and investment instrument, this process continues to spread to all countries of Pacific Asia, which are afraid of the threat of the growing influence of American and Western European sanctions, increased volatility of currency markets and shocks to balance of payments. Currently, a number of areas are visible in which Asia Pacific countries feel progress, where, undoubtedly, it is necessary to give priority to China’s initiatives. They include the use of financial safety nets in the formation of foreign exchange reserves, the conclusion of swap-type agreements, the use of a clearing mechanism for settlements in national currencies and a number of others. In recent years, after pilot projects, international operations of Asian central banks in digital currencies have begun. The main obstacle to diversification in institutional terms is the position of the International Monetary Fund and the US Federal Reserve System, which view these processes as a direct threat to the established dollar system. The strengthening of global trends towards regionalization requires, within the framework of deepening bilateral and multilateral agreements between Asian countries, new approaches to the upcoming reform of the global monetary system and the infrastructure that serves it, taking into account the fundamental changes in the monetary sphere.