MoF endorses call for new global reserve currency

Chinese Vice Minister of Finance Li Yong repeated central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan’s suggestion that the dollar be replaced with a new international reserve currency, the Wall Street Journal reported. “[A] flawed international monetary system is the institutional root cause of the [financial] crisis, and a major defect in the current international economic governance structure,” said Li, speaking at a meeting of the World Bank and IMF’s development committee. Li placed the blame for the current crisis at the door of the developed economies, arguing that declining demand from developed countries is the primary cause of the global slowdown. He also called on the World Bank and IMF to strengthen support for “regional and south-south cooperation” to alleviate recessions in developing economies.