More and more economists are giving a gloomy forecast on the future of the US currency. This time, top US economist and a Yale University senior fellow, Stephen Roach, has also forecast a rather grim fate for the US dollar. He explained why it would happen and why it was inevitable.

He argues that the greenback will lose its status of the main reserve currency much sooner than many analysts are expecting. Notably, Stephen speaks about it as a fait accompli. Naturally, he cannot say when exactly the US dollar will lose its dominance. "The US economy has been afflicted with some significant macro imbalances for a long time, namely a very low domestic savings rate and a chronic current account deficit. US living standards are about to be squeezed as never before" Roach pinpointed. Besides, he also said that the unemployment rate hit multi-year records, and the Federal Reserve's balance sheet fell by more than $3 trillion since the beginning of the year. "The dollar could easily test its July 2011 lows, weakening by as much as 35% in broad trade-weighted, inflation-adjusted terms," Stephen summed up. Some investors have already revised their portfolio in favor of other currencies that are likely to be less volatile in the near future. For now, the euro can replace the US dollar as a reserve currency. However, if the Chinese government continues to restructure its financial system, the yuan may gain the title of a new reserve currency as well.

He also warns investors that a weak dollar will affect major assets and the stock market, including the main indexes, as a larger portion of a sovereign's total debt is now denominated in dollars.