Russia, China, others urge diverse monetary system

Brazil, Russia, India and China on Tuesday called for a more diversified international monetary system, but wrapped up their first full-fledged summit by avoiding any explicit criticism of the world’s dominant currency, the U.S. dollar.

The statement issued by the leaders from the so-called BRIC nations contained no reference to developing new reserve currencies to complement the dollar, which Russia had called for earlier in the day. Instead, the cautious wording appeared to reflect China’s concerns that any anti-dollar statements could erode the value of its currency reserves.

“There is a strong need for a stable, predictable and more diversified international monetary system,” the final statement said. A reformed financial and economic architecture should be based on “democratic and transparent decision-making and implementation process at the international financial organizations.”

The BRIC nations urged the global community to keep the multilateral trading system stable and curb trade protectionism, and stressed a commitment to “advance the reform of international financial institutions to reflect changes in the world economy.” They also repeated long-standing calls that emerging economies be given greater representation at major institutions like the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank.