ST. PETERSBURG, June 4. /TASS/: The United States using the dollar as a competitive and political instrument is damaging it as an international reserve currency, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday at the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
"Stability, predictability, and reliability are important, the currency is not important. If the issuer - in this case, the United States - does not value its national currency as an international reserve currency, and apparently they do not value it very much, since it is used as an instrument of competition and political struggle, this damages the dollar as the global reserve currency," Putin said.
He noted that, according to the estimates of the World Bank and other international institutions, there is a decline in the gold and foreign exchange reserves of many countries of the world, "including the US allies," and settlements in dollars are also declining.
Dollar influence on oil market
Vladimir Putin remarked that oil sector’s move away from payments in US dollars will affect the position of this currency as a global reserve one. "If oil producers move away from dollar payments, this will be a very strong blow against the dollar as the global reserve currency, a very strong one," Putin said.
Oil payments are linked to the dollar because oil is an exchange-traded commodity, the President said.
Russia does not intend to use "these instruments in some political messing," Putin added.
About SPIEF
The 24th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is being held on June 2-5. The forum’s business program will focus on the global and Russian economies, social issues, and technological development. TASS is the information partner and the official photo hosting agency of the forum.
