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© Reuters. Malaysia proposes to China an Asian Monetary Fund to deal with the dollar
Singapore, Apr 4 (.).- Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Tuesday that China is open to his initiative to form an “Asian Monetary Fund” to counter the global dominance of the US dollar and the International Monetary Fund ( IMF).
This was stated today by Anwar in the Kuala Lumpur Parliament, where he stressed that “in negotiations between Malaysia and other countries, the respective national currencies should be used,” according to statements collected by the state agency Bernama.
The Malaysian prime minister defended the idea of the Asian fund during a meeting in Beijing last Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who “welcomed” the start of talks on the matter, after he also proposed it during his visit to the Forum. Boao, the “Asian Davos” (March 28-31), on the southern Chinese island of Hainan.
“There is no reason for Malaysia to continue to rely on the greenback,” he added, adding that Malaysia’s central bank is already working to enable China and his country to negotiate trade using both the ringgit and the yuan.
In office since November, Anwar, who is also Finance Minister, recalled today that he already suggested the possibility of creating a regional fund in 1990, when he first held said portfolio, although the idea did not go ahead because the “dollar it was still seen as a strong currency.
“But now, with the strength of the economies of China, Japan and others, I think we should discuss it, and also the use of our respective currencies,” he emphasized in the lower house.
The Boao Forum 2023, one of China’s major international economic conferences, released its annual report stating that Asia’s real GDP growth is expected to be 4.5% this year, up from 4.2 % by 2022, making it a “highlighter” amid the global slowdown.
For its part, China is working to strengthen the yuan’s presence in world trade and has recently signed agreements in this regard with Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Russia, with which it hopes to increase the yuan’s share in world trade, calculated currently at 2%.