Banks still want the euro in their vaults

The eurozone may be in the midst of a debt crisis, but the euro itself is still in strong demand as a reserve currency.

Around the world governments show little sign of ousting it from their foreign exchange holdings.

The European Central Bank has taken some of the credit with President Mario Draghi saying the Bank’s focus on preserving the stable value of the euro continued to underpin its international use as “a store of value.”

The single European currency made up 25 percent of countries’ reserves at the end of last year, down only slightly from the end of 2010.

The US dollar’s share of global reserves was virtually unchanged from a year earlier at 62.1 percent.

Despite the Federal Reserve’s stimulus measures – in essence printing more dollars – and the high US trade and budget deficits, the dollar remains the world’s dominant currency.

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