IMF chief economist Gourinchas says global economy remains firmly 'dollar-centered'

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - Global trade flows and relationships are shifting after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed unilateral tariffs on most countries, but the U.S. dollar continues to anchor international trade, banking and central bank reserves, the International Monetary Fund's chief economist said on Friday.

Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, who will leave the IMF and return to teaching next week, told Reuters in an interview that even sharp increases in the price of gold over the past few years had been largely driven by the rise of gold exchange-traded funds that allowed investors to buy into gold without holding the physical metal.

Stablecoin issuers were also holding gold as an asset, which was driving demand and prices higher, but even central banks were not actively buying gold.

"We are seeing very, very little in terms of movements that would indicate that we're moving away from a dollar-centered world. We are very firmly in the dollar-centered world," he said. "That doesn't mean that it couldn't change at some point, but really the set of developments we've seen the 10 years, we're seeing very, very minor things."

Gold edged higher on Friday as the dollar weakened and expectations of U.S. interest rate hikes eased slightly after the previous day's U.S. inflation data suggested price pressures may have peaked. Gold was still on track for a fourth consecutive weekly decline.

Spot gold?was up about 1.4% to $4,083 per ounce in early afternoon trading.

The U.S. dollar eased from recent highs after the release of the Fed's preferred inflation gauge on Thursday.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal;Editing by Dan Burns)