BEIJING, March 24 (Reuters) - Chinese central bank chief Zhou Xiaochuan on Tuesday reiterated his call for reform of the international monetary system, including a greater role for the Special Drawing Right.
In a paper released on the website of the People's Bank of China, www.pbc.gov.cn, Zhou said global currency diversification was needed because an over-concentration of foreign assets denominated in the dollar may bring about undesired consequences.
"Therefore, in addition to upgrading regulatory cooperation and rationalising savings allocation, the international community should move forward in reforming the international monetary system.
"Efforts should be made to strengthen the surveillance on the economic and financial policies in major reserve currency countries and to enhance the status of the SDR, so as to advance the international monetary system towards diversification over the long run," he said.
The PBOC said the paper, released in English as well as Chinese, was largely a restatement of a speech that Zhou gave at a banking conference in Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 10. The central bank did not say why it had chosen to reissue the speech now.
On Monday, the central bank published an essay by Zhou making the case why the SDR should eventually replace the dollar as the world's main reserve currency, under the management of the International Monetary Fund. [ID:nPEK184558]
China is setting out its ideas for long-term monetary reform just 10 days before a summit of the Group of 20 advanced and emerging economies in London, where the idea is likely to take a back seat to the more pressing need to stabilise the international financial system. (Reporting by Alan Wheatley, Editing by Jacqueline Wong)