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Russia wants rouble, yuan, gold in new currency basket
By Simon Shuster
Reuters
Saturday, March 28, 2009
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSLS37648120090328
MOSCOW -- Russia supports expanding the IMF's Special Drawing Rights (SDR) to include the rouble, the yuan, and gold, but sees no chance of the G20 Summit accepting a new reserve currency, a Kremlin aide said on Saturday, agencies reported.
"It would be logical for the set of currencies" that make up the SDR "to be expanded, and it could include other currencies, including the rouble, the yuan, and perhaps others," state RIA news agency reported the Kremlin's senior economic aide Arkady Dvorkovich as saying.
China this week caused a stir ahead of the April 2 Group of 20 meeting of rich and emerging economies when it suggested the world move towards greater use of the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights, created by the IMF in 1969 as an international reserve asset.
G20 leaders have made clear that for now the dollar's status as the dominant reserve unit remains, but the idea of creating a new reserve currency system based on SDRs has not entirely been knocked down.
Dvorkovich said he sees no chance of the G20 accepting a new reserve currency next month, but his comments suggest the issue will be in the spotlight at the meeting, where world leaders will discuss ways to combat the global economic crisis.
"We could also think about more effective use of gold and gold and forex reserves in this system," Dvorkovich said, RIA reported. For its part, he added, Russia would support the broad use of the rouble and the yuan as reserve currencies, Itar-Tass reported.
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