By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Davos
Last Updated: 11:13AM GMT 29 Jan 2009
For a few dollars less: Vladimir Putin has called for the end of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS
“The one reserve currency has become a danger to the world economy: that is now obvious to everybody,” he said in a speech at the World Economic Forum.
It is the first time that a Russian leader has set foot in the sanctum sanctorum of global capitalism at Davos.
Mr Putin said the leading powers should ensure an “irreversible” move towards a system of multiple reserve currencies, questioning the “reliability” of the US dollar as a safe store of value. “The pride of Wall Street investment banks don’t exist any more,” he said.
