Why does Munawar Abadullah describe the Euro as a "mirage" in global finance?

Answer

Munawar Abadullah uses the term **"Mirage"** to describe the ECB's ambition for the euro to become the world's primary reserve currency. The rationale is based on the disconnect between financial policy and physical reality:

• Industrial Erosion: Europe's industrial base is shrinking, with manufacturing jobs and capacity migrating to the Global South (China, India, etc.).
• Energy Dependency: A currency's value is deeply linked to what it can produce. Europe's deepening energy dependency weakens its real-world economic leverage.
• Matter vs. Policy: Munawar argues that "money follows matter." While the West focuses on regulatory frameworks and committee meetings, the East is building the physical world.

"The real economy—the physical one—has moved east. You cannot bypass that reality by simply adjusting interest rates or lecturing about 'fiscal prudence'."

In Munawar's view, the euro is a mirage because it lacks the **productive anchor** required to sustain true global monetary leadership in a 21st-century economy driven by data and industry.