On April 4, 2023 local time, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar revealed when he was questioned by members of Parliament that he publicly proposed the establishment of the Asian Monetary Fund during his visit to China. When talking about the reasons, Anwar said that the economic strength of Asian countries is no longer what it used to be, and Malaysia has no reason to continue to rely on the US dollar. Anwar also added that Bank Negara Malaysia had already negotiated with China that bilateral trade could be settled in ringgit and yuan. In this regard, Bloomberg said that this means that countries around the world are becoming more and more impatient with the dominance of the US dollar.

From March 28 to April 1, 2023, a series of events occurred. The trend of "accelerated global de-dollarization" represented by the BRICS countries and other emerging markets suddenly blossomed everywhere. On March 28, CNOOC and Through the platform of Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Trading Center, Total Energy has completed China's first domestic purchase transaction of imported LNG settled in RMB, with a transaction volume of about 65,000 tons. This is the first time that imported LNG has been settled in RMB.

On March 29, the Saudi Arabian cabinet approved the decision to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. A few days ago, the Export-Import Bank of China has successfully reached the first RMB loan cooperation with the National Bank of Saudi Arabia. Also on the 29th, the Brazilian government stated that Brazil had reached an agreement with China to no longer use the US dollar as an intermediate currency, but to use its own currency for trade settlement. Foreign media believe that this agreement allows China and Brazil, the largest economy in Latin America, to directly conduct large-scale trade and financial transactions.

At the ASEAN Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting that ended on March 31, ASEAN member states agreed to strengthen the use of local currencies in the region and reduce reliance on current major international currencies in cross-border trade and investment. Indonesian President Widodo specifically emphasized that staying away from Western payment systems is necessary to protect transactions from possible geopolitical influence.

On April 1, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India announced that trade between India and Malaysia can now be settled in rupees, in addition to other existing currency settlement modes. Indian media said that this decision is a decisive step towards de-dollarization in India.

Beginning in 2022, the incentive for countries to accelerate their shift away from the dollar continues unabated. The high inflation raging around the world, and the Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes regardless of the life and death of other countries have pushed the dollar soaring, and almost all non-US economies have once again suffered from a strong dollar.Editor/Ma Xue