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China on right track to reform global currency system

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-26 13:13

China is on the right track to reform the global currency system, Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz said on Thursday.

"I think what China is doing is making a clear statement in the fact that the dollar is not going to be the single basis of the reserve currency," Stiglitz told Xinhua at the UN Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its Impact on Development.

For the first time in more than one year, China reduced its holding of US Treasury bonds, which experts said reflected concern over the safety of US-dollar-linked assets.

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"The world is moving away from the dollar reserve system. It makes greater sense to move to something, not just away from something. And what we need in a global economy is a global reserve system. So moving away from the dollar is the first step," said Stiglitz.

China, the biggest holder of US Treasury bonds, is not the only nation that trimmed holdings of US Treasury bonds in April. Japan, Russia and Brazil did likewise in reducing their reliance on the dollar.

"Now we have to move towards a more systemic global system to the global reserve system. And I think that the support China is giving to this idea in a variety of ways is very important," added the economist.

"I think there is no way really sure that creating a global reserve system is the way to solve the problem. In a global world, you want to have global diversification. For the long run, I think the right track is eventually to work towards a multilateral system. And that means a global reserve system," he said.