A top Russian government official says a number of countries are drastically decreasing their dollar reserves while increasing their gold holdings.
In a new report from the Russian-state-funded news organization TASS, deputy minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Pankin calls the US dollar “toxic” amid the world’s reserve currency’s growth over the past year.
Pankin says that a small group of countries have stockpiled gold in 2022 at the expense of the dollar.
“These trends show that the US dollar is becoming big, strong, but still toxic for everyday operations. It’s not a mainstream trend, but I believe it might become a trend.”
According to the Deputy Minister, Russia is in favor of diminishing the role of the US dollar in international trade. Pankin says that the dollar’s dominance on the global stage would contribute to increased volatility.
Earlier this month, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov reportedly said that the trend of de-dollarization is now irreversible and poised to accelerate. Lavrov pointed out that members of the Common Wealth of Independent States, or countries formerly part of the Soviet Union, have seen their trade flows significantly grow without complying with the demands of the United States.
“We are starting to see a flight from the dollar. So far, it is not all that swift, but it is sure to accelerate. In fact, this trend is irreversible.”
Reports also surfaced that BRICS nations – which is made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are accumulating gold at a rapid pace as they begin to back away from the US dollar.
Last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that Russia, China and Iran are working together to diminish the dominance of the dollar in the international settlement of oil.
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