Russian President Vladimir Putin claims U.S. economic policies are diminishing the dollar’s global dominance. “Last year the share of payments for Russian exports in the unfriendly states’ so-called toxic currencies was halved,” he revealed, labeling the U.S.’s $1 trillion trade deficit as modern neocolonialism and emphasizing Russia’s shift towards using the ruble and local currencies in trade among the BRICS nations.
Putin Says US Dollar Dominance Diminishing as Use of 'Toxic Currencies' Declines
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Vladimir Putin: This Is How Everything Is Developing
Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized U.S. economic policies during the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 7, arguing they are diminishing the dollar’s global dominance.
“Today’s U.S. authorities are breaking their ‘tools of greatness.’ The dollar is one of the few instruments of today’s greatness of the United States. They are pushing the global economic agents away from the dollar with their own hands. It will happen anyway due to the shrinking of the U.S. economy, but they are accelerating this process,” Putin said, according to the translation provided by the Kremlin. “Naturally, new instruments are emerging, such as financial instruments of the central banks, which we discuss within BRICS.”
The Russian president continued: “Every year, the United States has a $1 trillion trade deficit … This is a modern version of neocolonialism. By using the dollar’s monopolistic status, the United States consumes $1 trillion more annually than it produces. It extracts these resources from other countries.” Putin stressed:
We cannot behave in the same way, and we do not monopolize the global currency market, the way the U.S. dollar is doing … We are considering diversification in order to balance the current industrial situation, the real economy and the future situation. This is how everything is developing.
Putin emphasized Russia’s shift towards using the ruble and local currencies in trade among the BRICS nations. He noted a significant decrease in the use of “toxic” Western currencies for Russian exports and highlighted the increasing trust in national payment systems and infrastructure. The Russian president detailed:
Last year the share of payments for Russian exports in the unfriendly states’ so-called toxic currencies was halved. At the same time, the share of the ruble in export and import transactions is growing. Today it is approaching 40 percent.
“Development of the cross-border payment infrastructure is a separate issue which is important both for the exporters and importers. It is no secret that the reliability and trust in Western payment systems have been fundamentally undermined, by Western countries themselves,” Putin added.
What are your thoughts on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statements? Do you agree with his assessment of the U.S. dollar and its dominance? Share your views in the comments section below.
