Rogers: Sell U.S. dollar, buy real and yuan

http://today.reuters.com/news/articl...&from=business

Tue Dec 12, 2006 11:57am ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - It's only a matter of time before the beleaguered U.S. dollar loses its status as the world's reserve currency and medium of exchange, U.S. fund manager and author Jim Rogers told Reuters in an interview.

"The dollar is a terribly flawed currency," said Rogers, who co-founded the Quantum hedge fund with billionaire investor George Soros in the 1970s.

He urged investors to switch to the Brazilian real <BRBY> and Chinese yuan <CNY=CFXS> instead.

"You should hold as few dollars as possible. The dollar's decline would go on for years to come," he added.

The dollar has so far lost nearly 12 percent against the euro <EUR=> this year, around 14 percent against sterling <GBP=>, and roughly 9 percent versus the Swiss franc <CHF=>, as investors became concerned that U.S. economic growth was slowing and that the interest rate differential with Europe may narrow.

Investors expect the Federal Reserve may cut the fed funds rate, currently at 5.25 percent, next year, eroding the greenback's yield advantage over other major currencies.

The market's renewed focus on the widening U.S. current account deficit, a measure of the country's trade and investment flows, has also contributed to the dollar's <.DXY> recent decline, analysts say.

Rogers further outlined a gloomy scenario for the once-mighty dollar.