In this video, we talk to the former Managing Director-General of the Asian Development Bank, Dr Rajat M Nag.
We discuss the ongoing currency war in the world and the role of the United States in it.
Ukraine has been an issue in the news but behind the scenes what has really been of interest to a lot of people is what is happening in the global currency market. The ruble fell very dramatically. It has now come up and has reached almost parity with the dollar, or where it was before the Ukraine war started. But more than that, the fact $300 billion of Russian reserves were seized, essentially frozen, the Russian Central Bank is under sanctions, what does it mean for countries which maintain a currency surplus in other currencies, whether it is dollars, euros or whatever denomination, what happens to them? Does it mean the basis of international trade, which assumes that even if I’m holding money in your bank it’s really my money and that is what the basis of trade is, is at risk if this thing happens?