Western financial policies driving countries away from dollar

Many nations are abandoning the US dollar because it is increasingly being used as a tool to “usurp” financial relations, Sichuan University Professor Huang Yunsong said on Friday. He made the remarks at the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in Vladivostok, Russia in a panel discussion on the country's economic cooperation with India and China.

The global trend towards using national currencies in trade has gained momentum amid unprecedented economic sanctions against Russia introduced by the US and its allies following the start of the Ukraine conflict. After being effectively blocked from the Western financial system, Russia has turned to alternate settlement options, with many of its foreign partners following suit.

According to Huang, countries are now seeking to diversify their currency baskets, and their motivation is based on three major factors: The actions of the International Monetary Fund, which, he says, “have a negative impact on the economies of countries,” practices implemented by the US, and wide-ranging global shifts in economic policies.

“The US often usurps trade and financial relations by imposing dependence on the dollar on all participating countries,” Huang said, noting that most nations find this practice intolerable.

He added that the global “shift in economic development” and “the shift of economic centers to the East, to China and Russia” are also pushing nations to shift to using national currencies in business and trade.

Huang’s ideas were echoed by a fellow scholar from Russia, Professor Stanislav Tkachenko from St. Petersburg State University, who said de-dollarization “is a key for dismantling the American hegemonic system.”

Speaking at the EEF plenary session on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the dollar, which has been the dominant global currency since World War II, is now rapidly losing its position. He explained that Russia did not choose to ditch the dollar, but was forced to do so after being effectively banned from using it.

READ MORE: Do the new US sanctions mark Russia’s final divorce from the dollar?

“We were not pursuing a de-dollarization policy. We did not refuse to settle transactions in dollars. Rather, we were refused, and were simply forced to look for other options,” Putin said, referring to the sanctions that the US placed on Russia in 2022, including cutting off Russia’s central bank from dollar transactions and banning the export of dollar banknotes to the country. Putin noted that Russia and its partners within the BRICS group are now using national currencies in 65% of mutual trade settlements.

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