Financial safety

Ditch the dollar: World leaders who challenged reliance on US currency

Following Iran and Iraq’s decision to no longer use the US dollar in bilateral trade, RT looks at world leaders who have called for a move away from dependance on the currency.

Iran and Iraq are the latest in a growing list of nations to distance themselves from the dollar, instead opting to use the euro and their own local currencies for transactions. China and Japan, and China and Russia have also switched to using their own currencies when trading together.

Most international trade is done in dollars and more than 60 percent of foreign currency reserves are in dollars. Despite this, world leaders have spoken out about the dangers posed by the dollar’s dominance.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan

Turkey’s leader announced on Monday that Ankara is preparing to conduct trade through national currencies with China, Russia and Ukraine.

“We need to gradually end the monopoly of the dollar once and for all by using local and national currency among us,” he said at a business forum in Kyrgyzstan.