Fresh news from the 3rd Seminar on Banking Services and Export in Tehran: Iran gained $5bn by reducing the portion of dollars in its oil currency basket, according to Mahmoud Bahman, head of Iran’s central bank.
The basket, which prices oil in a mixture of euro, yen and yuan, was first mooted two years ago after talks between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. Earlier this month, Ahmedinejad said he would propose extending the idea to a common currency basket amongst Islamic countries.
From Iran’s Press TV on Monday:
Since October 2007, Iran has received 85 percent of its oil revenues in currencies other than the US dollar, while the country expresses determination to find a substitute for the US dollar for the remaining 15 percent of its oil revenues.
The Iranian government began preparing the ground for the dollar’s replacement by the euro and other foreign exchanges in 2005.
The constant slide of the dollar coupled with the persisting economic crisis in the US has forced many countries to drop the currency in favor of a more stable and valuable one.
The irony of quantifying the benefits of switching away from the dollar in…er…dollars, seems lost on the news service.
As Reuters notes, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called the US currency a “worthless piece of paper.” Press TV add that “Saudi Arabia, South Korea, China, Venezuela, Sudan and Russia have taken steps to replace the US dollar in their foreign exchange reserves, as well. ”
H/T Alea
Related links
A cabal plotting against the dollar? – John Kemp at Reuters
The demise of the dollar – Robert Risk in the Independent