G8 Summit: India says ready to discuss dollar status

08 Jul 2009

India has agreed to join a discussion on the reserve currency role of the US dollar, even as the G8 leaders have failed to get emerging powers, including India, to agree on the climate change goals for 2050.

The summit, however, is unlikely to have a sensitive debate on the domination of the dollar among convertible currencies.

Moreover, with China seriously disadvantaged with internal law and order problems, a serious debate on global currency reforms pushed by China is unlikely.

Neither does the meeting of the 17-nation major economies forum scheduled for Thursday make any progress without getting China and India agree to the G8 climate change draft.

While China and Russia are interested in replacing the US dollar with another global reserve currency, possibly the Chinese Yuan, over the longer term, The G8 draft only talks of only of global "imbalances."

"Stable and sustainable long-term growth will require a smooth unwinding of the existing imbalances in current accounts," it read.