Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the US of exploiting other economies for their benefit, thanks to the dollar.

 Addressing the VTB Investment Forum in Moscow on Wednesday, Putin said that the opponents of the US did a lot to undermine the fundamental basis of dollar as their international reserve currency.

 “The use of the dollar as a world currency gives the US a lot of money... Thanks to the dollar, US continues to exploit other economies of the world for their benefit... One thing is to prohibit the use of dollars and the other thing is not to use it... The President-elect hasn’t been in the White House for four years. There have been certain changes in the world economy as well as the American economy during this time... Their opponents did a lot to undermine the fundamental basis of dollar as their international reserve currency. They did it themselves in their own hands using dollar as an instrument of political or even military fight to inflict damage on other countries,” he said.

 Giving an example of Bitcoin, Putin said that no one can prohibit the use of new technology. The US cannot prohibit its use for anyone.

 “The share of the US in the world economy is reducing, and the influence of the dollar on the world economy processes is also reducing... That is why we see (economic) processes with the use of other instruments. For instance, Bitcoin, who can prohibit the use of it?... Or the use of other electronic ways of settlement. No one can ban the use of them because these are new technologies and anything can happen with dollar. The use of these instruments will increase... Dollar has nothing to do with it. If we see that the use of dollar has reduced, they (US) will undermine their economic dominance... We never refused to use dollars. We were denied the use of it... And now we have to think of what to do next... They are too confident of themselves and this is unacceptable... Based on understanding the processes that are happening in the world, we should establish our policy on the international level,” he said.
 Putin added that the US cannot undo the policies that its own allies adopted by reducing gold and dollar reserves.

 “Even the countries that are allies of the US reduced their gold and currency reserves in dollars and in Euros... In the last 10 years, the reduction was around 13 per cent... No one will be able to undo these processes with the use of sanctions or force that is destructive for the economy,” he said.

 Putin also lauded the Indian government and its leadership for its efforts in creating “stable conditions” for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), highlighting India’s economic initiatives, particularly the “Make in India” initiative led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 US President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday threatened the BRICS nations, including India, with 100 per cent tariffs and called for a clear commitment from these countries to refrain from creating a new currency or supporting any other currency to replace the US dollar.

 “The idea that the BRICS Countries are trying to move away from the Dollar while we stand by and watch is OVER. We require a commitment from these Countries that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty U.S. Dollar or, they will face 100 per cent Tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. Economy. They can go find another “sucker!” Trump said.

 (ANI)