Ever since Valéry Giscard d’Estaing coined the term “exorbitant privilege” in the 1960s, French politicians have grumbled unavailingly about the hegemony of the US dollar.

Just three years ago, in the last round of hostilities, Nicolas Sarkozy declared war on the dollar’s reserve currency status in the run-up to France’s presidency of the Group of 20 economies. But after a few verbal fusillades, the then president beat a retreat, admitting the dollar would remain the world’s number one currency for quite some time.

Little has changed since then apart from the euro crisis, an event that has undermined rather than enhanced the single currency’s challenge to the greenback. The dollar continues to account for 61 per cent of the reserves held by central banks round the world. The euro accounts for a touch under a quarter. So it is difficult to see much coming from the call by Michel Sapin, the French finance minister, for a general “rebalancing” of the currencies used for global payments.