Nations across the world have to diversify more and more as Washington is using the dollar to put political and economic pressure on its rivals, according to investment guru Jim Rogers.
“I hate to say it, but the American dollar has political problems because if America gets angry at you, they use sanctions, they say you cannot use it,” Rogers told RT on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
“But the international currency is supposed to be neutral,” he added.
The investor said that the US has the largest external debt in the history of the world, adding that this is “not good if you have the international currency.”
According to Rogers, this has resulted in a constant search for an alternative.
“People are looking for a change, and I can certainly understand why the Russians would start to diversify more and more; you just have to diversify and have a plan B,” the legendary investor added.
The comments came shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the US administration uses the greenback as “an instrument of competition and political struggle” that has “hurt its role as the world reserve currency.”
Earlier this week, Russian Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov announced that the National Wealth Fund is planning to reduce its share of dollars to zero.
Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that Russia may soon be tempted to move away from dollar-denominated crude contracts if Washington keeps imposing targeted economic sanctions.