 Chavez proposes oil-backed currency
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-04-01 07:57
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sought Arab support yesterday for a proposed oil-backed currency to challenge the US dollar in his latest swipe at Washington's dominance in global financial affairs. It's highly unlikely Chavez will gain any serious momentum for his "petro-currency" proposal at a summit of South American and Arab League leaders, but it represented another attempt to undercut the dollar's standing as the world's leading commercial currency. China has struck deals - most recently this week with Argentina - to conduct trade in currencies other than the dollar. Iran has proposed replacing the dollar with the euro or other currencies to set worldwide oil prices. Chavez plans to visit both Iran and China following the one-day Qatar gathering. Key oil-producing members of the Arab League, such as Saudi Arabia and Gulf states, have close ties to Washington and will almost certainly reject any plan to shun the dollar. But the summit kicks off another high-profile foreign trip for Chavez in his efforts to build economic and diplomatic links to confront the United States. "A new world is being born. Empires fall. There is a world crisis of capitalism, it's shaking the planet," Chavez told Venezuelan state radio after arriving in Qatar. OPEC members - including Venezuela and many Arab Leagues states - have been hit hard by falling oil prices, which edged toward $50 a barrel yesterday. Leaders also are seeking to boost the current $21 billion trade between the two regions, which includes oil and gas from the Middle East and steel and agricultural products from South America. AP
(China Daily 04/01/2009 page12) |
