BlackRockâs Fink Says Dollar Still Best for Long Term (Update1)
Share | Email | Print | A A A
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aLZMqIMQ2Ys0
By Erik Schatzker and Caroline Salas
Sept. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Laurence Fink, chairman and chief executive officer of BlackRock Inc., said the U.S. dollar remains the best currency for investors seeking to protect wealth.
âI still believe it is the best place to be if you have a large pool of money,â Fink, who is poised to head the worldâs biggest money manager when BlackRock completes its purchase of Barclays Global Investors this year, said today in an interview. Compared with the euro, Japanese yen and U.K. sterling, âI choose the dollar.â
The credit crisis and concern the U.S. is borrowing too much to end it have eroded confidence in the dollar and reduced demand for the relative safety of U.S. assets. China, India, Brazil and Russia this year called for a replacement to the dollar as the main reserve currency after the collapse of the U.S. mortgage market triggered to the worst global recession since World War II.
The Dollar Index, which tracks the U.S. currency against the euro, yen, pound, Canadian dollar, franc and Swedish krona, sank as low as 76.010 today, the weakest level since Sept. 22, 2008. The gauge dropped about 15 percent from its 2009 high of 89.624 reached in March as investors sought refuge from the financial crisis in the worldâs main reserve currency.
If the U.S. does not âtackle our deficits, if we donât tackle our economic situations in a comprehensive way,â someday âthere might be other reserve currencies they will use,â Fink said. Still, a weaker dollar will help the U.S. economyâs âhealing processâ by boosting exports, he said.
âI think exports will drive a lot more of this economy, and through that weâre going to see sustainable growth,â Fink said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Erik Schatzker in New York at
eschatzker@bloomberg.net; Caroline Salas in New York at
csalas1@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: September 17, 2009 13:09 EDT