'Decline of Dollar hegemony' [Money Trail © PressTV]

Over the past few years, the dollar has been falling in value relative to the currencies of its major trading partners due to many reasons including the ballooning national debt and increasing budget deficit.

The US central bank has persisted in holding its target interest rate essentially at zero. At the same time, the Fed has continued to buy Treasuries on the open market, keeping demand for them higher and in the process reinforcing its stance of low rates.

Together, those policies have had the effect of making financial assets in other countries more desirable and maintaining downward pressure on the dollar.