In an interview with Reuters released on Friday, Andrei Kostin, the CEO of VTB Bank, Russia’s second-largest bank, argued the United States and the European Union would lose from moves to freeze hundreds of billions of dollars of Russian assets as many countries were ditching the dollar and the euro and moving toward other currencies to settle payments.
“The long historical era of the dominance of the American dollar is coming to an end,” Kostin said, adding that VTB was already discussing using yuan in settlements with third countries.
“I think that the time has come when China will gradually remove currency restrictions,” he said. “China understands that they will not become world economic power Number 1 if they keep their yuan as a non-convertible currency.”
The US dollar’s status in the world has been put into question, especially in recent months, due to China’s economic rise, the fallout from the war in Ukraine, and failed Western attempts to isolate Russia economically, among other factors.
While acknowledging that Russia has suffered as a result of the sanctions, Kostin said Russia’s economy would not be broken by the West.
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