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| Economy | |
| Brazil and China eye plan to axe dollar | |
| 2009-05-19 | |
The move follows recent Chinese challenges to the status of the dollar as the world’s leading international currency. Mr Lula da Silva, who is visiting Beijing this week, and Hu Jintao, China’s president, first discussed the idea of replacing the dollar with the renminbi and the real as trade currencies when they met at the G20 summit in London last month. An official at Brazil’s central bank stressed that talks were at an early stage. He also said that what was under discussion was not a currency swap of the kind China recently agreed with Argentina and which the US had agreed with several countries, including Brazil. “Currency swaps are not necessarily trade related,” the official said. “The funds can be drawn down for any use. What we are talking about now is Brazil paying for Chinese goods with reals and China paying for Brazilian goods with renminbi.” Henrique Meirelles and Zhou Xiaochuan, governors of the two countries’ central banks, were expected to meet soon to discuss the matter, the official said. Mr Zhou recently proposed replacing the US dollar as the world’s leading currency with a new international reserve currency, possibly in the form of special drawing rights (SDRs), a unit of account used by the International Monetary Fund. In an essay posted on the People’s Bank of China’s website, Mr Zhou said the goal would be to create a reserve currency “that is disconnected from individual nations”. In September, Brazil and Argentina signed an agreement under which importers and exporters in the two countries may make and receive payments in pesos and reals, although they may also continue to use the US dollar if they prefer. An aide to Mr Lula da Silva on his visit to Beijing said the political will to enact a similar deal with China was clearly present. “Something that would have been unthinkable 10 years ago is a real possibility today,” he said. “Strong currencies like the real and the renminbi are perfectly capable of being used as trade currencies, as is the case between Brazil and Argentina.” | |
| Posted by:lotp |
| #4 Change! (as in, what a dollar will be worth after four years of Obama) |
| Posted by: DMFD 2009-05-19 19:44 |
| #3 Throw shifting 20 million unemployed to China during economic downturns into that calculation, along with the cost avoidance of social services and 'extended' unemployment payments costs. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2009-05-19 11:16 |
| #2 $70 billion: US trade deficit in 1993, the year before Clinton granted China Most Favored Nation status (which he pledged not to do). Recent years' trade deficits: ~700 billion or 5-6% of GDP. Jobs, industry, wealth power and social cohesion lost: incalculable. |
| Posted by: ed 2009-05-19 08:47 |
| #1 Not so easy after all, is it? |
| Posted by: gorb 2009-05-19 00:41 |