Kazakhstan's President Nazabayev calls for new world currency at the Astana Economic Forum
Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazabayev has made the bold step of calling for a new supernational world currency to replace the US dollar.
The declaration was made at the Astana Economic Forum, held in the new Kazakh capital on July 1 and 2.
Speaking to an assortment of international and domestic delegates from banks, government bodies and the press, Nazabayev remarked: “The creation of a more stable economy will require the introduction of a single, supernational currency. It could be roubles, but we have tried that and how different is that from dollars? In the worst case scenario it would just be a repetition [of the current situation].”
Nazabayev maintained that the idea of a new supernational currency was one that he would continue to champion in the coming year: “I’m continuing to insist that for a global economy, we need a new global currency. It would be good that if at the next meeting for the economic forum in Astana, that could be the theme of the forum.”
The president’s remarks come at a time when China is actively exploring new ways to utilise the renminbi (RMB) in cross-border trade settlements, with major international banks such as HSBC, Standard Chartered and JP Morgan gaining permission from China to close deals in RMB.
Kazakhstan’s president also deplored the G-8 and G-20 meetings to consider the possibility of a new world currency by suggesting that the meetings are spending too much time revisiting the same topics.
He comments: “All discussions and talks last year in international forums were discussing the same old problems but we are failing to look deeper into the crisis and what problems we will be facing in a few years’ time.”
However, the president agreed that the G-20 summits were correct in attempting to address the need for reforming financial markets, including placing more responsibility on bankers.
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