Russian Finance Minister: Western Policies Hurt the US Dollar

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov believes that the policies of the US and its Western allies are affecting the role of the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency. Siluanov stated that while the U.S. dollar will remain popular, the BRICS bloc will develop a solution using digital financial assets to replace it.

Russian Finance Minister Siluanov: Using Western Currencies Is ‘Risky’

The financial instability of the U.S. and its Western allies is affecting the stance of their currencies in international trade and their use as reserve currencies. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov believes that the negative indicators of these economies are raising questions around the world about the dollar’s usage.

In a recent interview with Russia Today Arabic, Siluanov highlighted the increase in their budget deficit and the explosion of their national debts has other nations worried about the future of the Western world’s economy.

Siluanov declared:

In the United States, for example, it is already about 120% of GDP. All of this is done without any restrictions, and we and our G20 colleagues are asking ourselves: what are the prospects for these countries?

The role of the U.S. dollar as a global reserve currency has faltered in the last twenty years. However, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), it still represents 58% of foreign reserves, followed by the euro with 20%.

Siluanov acknowledges this status won’t be lost quickly, and that the dollar will maintain its dominance as a trade currency in the coming years. Nonetheless, he stated that BRICS was preparing to trade away from the dollar using national currencies. “The share of the dollar in settlements inside BRICS is shrinking, with the share of settlements in national currencies being on the rise,” Siluanov stressed.

Last month, BRICS’s Deputy Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Samip Shastri revealed that trade in national currencies had already surpassed dollar-based transactions and that countries were “happy” conducting exchanges using their currencies. This resonates with Siluanov’s statements.

Siluanov assessed that digital assets and new technology might be used as part of the solution to avoid dollar dependence. State Duma’s Deputy Chairman Alexander Babakov recently mentioned that an upcoming BRICS unified exchange might leverage a blockchain platform and a single currency to facilitate trade.

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