US dollar losing its global luster

In terms of payment amount, the euro surpassed the US dollar to become the largest payment currency in the world in May, accounting for 39.03 percent of the global total, with the US dollar accounting for 38.35 percent, according to data newly released by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).

This is not the first time the euro has overtaken the US dollar in global payments－it did so for five consecutive months in 2013 after the European debt crisis eased and in October last year－so it is too early to claim that the euro is threatening the US dollar's dominance in the global currency market.

The fast rise of payments in the euro last month should be attributed to the European Union initiating the Next Generation EU plan, which will raise €800 billion ($955.2 billion) over the next five years to stoke the renaissance of the EU economy.