Laurence Fink, the chairman and chief executive of BlackRock Inc., says the U.S. dollar remains the best currency for investors seeking to protect wealth.
"I still believe it is the best place to be if you have a large pool of money," said Fink. Compared with the euro, Japanese yen or pound sterling, "I choose the dollar," he said Thursday. The credit crisis and concern that the United States is borrowing too much have eroded confidence in the dollar and reduced demand for U.S. assets.
China, India, Brazil and Russia this year have called for a replacement of the dollar as the world's main reserve currency after the collapse of the U.S. mortgage market triggered the worst global recession since World War II.
If the United States does not "tackle our deficits, if we don't tackle our economic situations in a comprehensive way," someday "there might be other reserve currencies they will use," Fink said. Still, a weaker dollar will help the U.S. economy's "healing process" by boosting exports, he said.
