LONDON: China, Russia, Japan and several of the most powerful Gulf States are actively plotting to end the decades-old practice of buying and selling oil in dollars, the UK daily claimed today.
The newspaper said the plan is for the US currency to be replaced for trading oil by a basket of currencies, including the Japanese yen, the Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, single currency for the Gulf States.
If executed, the move would be a significant blow to the dollar's position as the premier world currency and would potentially threaten America's position as the world's leading economy.
According to the paper, gold could be used as a temporary replacement for the dollar while the new currency basket was implemented.
"Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars," it claimed.
"Chinese financial sources believe President Barack Obama is too busy fixing the US economy to concentrate on the extraordinary implications of the transition from the dollar in nine years' time. The current deadline for the currency transition is 2018," added.
The report was swiftly denied by several of the world's biggest oil producers. Muhammad al-Jasser, head of the Saudi Arabian central bank, claimed it was "absolutely incorrect", while Russian finance minister Dmitry Pankin and a Kuwaiti oil minister both denied discussing a move away from the dollar.
A source within the United Arab Emirates central bank also told Reuters that it would be sticking with the greenback.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment