Asian currencies to party on in 2025 as US dollar tumbles to 50-year low
The greenback is reeling from a double-digit slump against a basket of major currencies. It is the worst first-half performance in decades
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[SINGAPORE] Major Asian currencies could be in for more gains until the end of the year, with the US dollar – hammered by tariff tensions, cloudy macro prospects and shifting bets on the monetary policy path – having slumped 10.7 per cent in the first half of 2025. This is its worst half-year performance since 1973.
OCBC foreign exchange (FX) strategist Christopher Wong said: “The US dollar’s underperformance has been driven by a confluence of factors, ranging from the unpredictability of US policy related to (US President Donald) Trump’s tariffs, the erosion of US exceptionalism and increasing concerns over US fiscal health.”
In the early 1970s, the greenback was under pressure as an FX regime change saw economic heavyweights such as Germany, the UK and Japan abandoning a fixed exchange rate based on gold for a free-floating one against the greenback, said Wong.
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