The dollar has fallen to new lows against the euro and the Swiss franc on mounting concerns that the housing slump will drag the United States economy toward recession.

"Credit and housing difficulties are continuing to rumble on," Adam Cole, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets Ltd. in London, told Bloomberg News. "There's more bad news in the pipeline, raising speculation the Fed is going to cut rates again."

The acceleration in the dollar's slide in recent months is worrying nations with currencies tied to the dollar or with large reserves of dollars.

It is particularly worrisome to oil-rich nations, whose economies are booming but are racked by high inflation as a result of the weak dollar. Inflation in Qatar is running at 12 percent, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Early next month, the heads of six Persian Gulf nations will meet and may decide to break their currencies' pegs to the dollar, perhaps taking their cue from Kuwait and switching to a basket of currencies.

Such a move, the Journal says, "could undermine demand for dollars and encourage others to diversify their holdings."

The Journal notes that Saudi Arabia, the largest economy in the Persian Gulf, has pledged not to break the peg with the dollar.

China, a country that may have a greater impact on the dollar's standing, is again making noises about possibly diversifying its $1.4 trillion in currency reserves.

Wen Jiabao, the premier, told a conference in Singapore on Monday that it was becoming more difficult to manage its reserves, of which 70 percent are believed to be in dollars.

"We have never been experiencing such big pressure," Wen said, according to the Financial Times, citing Reuters. "We are worried about how to preserve the value of our reserves."

Two weeks ago, Cheng Siwei, vice chairman of the National People's Congress, suggested that China should shift more of its reserves into euros.

While the Federal Reserve is not expected to cut interest rates next month, the concern is that the United States economy will continue to weaken, forcing the Fed to change its monetary policy early next year. Lower interest rates typically weaken a currency's value.

Russell Jones, head of currency strategy at RBC, told the Financial Times, "Any respite in the dollar's weakness is likely to be temporary. The dollar isn't a safe haven at the moment, because most of the problems facing the world economy are coming out of the U.S."