Reply #10: Putin Seeks New Economic Order [View All]

Source: Moscow Time

ST. PETERSBURG -- President Vladimir Putin has called for the creation of a new global economic order that would diminish the importance of the WTO and the IMF -- and at the same time asked eight U.S. business leaders to help get Russia into the WTO.

Putin criticized the World Trade Organization and similar institutions as "archaic, nondemocratic and unwieldy" during a speech Sunday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The president, speaking in the presence of WTO head Pascal Lamy and EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, said the organizations should be overhauled to take into account the might of emerging economies like Russia, India and China.

"It's obvious that a world financial system tied to one or two currencies and a limited number of financial centers no longer reflects the current strategic needs of the global economy," Putin said.

Russia, he said, could emerge as a new financial center and the ruble should become an alternative to the dollar and euro.



Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/06/13/002.html