TOKYO, Nov 4 (Reuters) - The dollar will remain a key global currency as there is no other unit to replace it as a reserve currency, former Japanese currency policy chief Hiroshi Watanabe said on Wednesday.
Watanabe, who served as vice minister for international affairs for three years to July 2007, said the Group of 20 major economies was unlikely to talk much about the dollar's weakness, which he said should be discussed by G7 rich nations and China.
"The dollar itself has passed its peak," Watanabe told Reuters in an interview.
"But it is certain that we are not in a situation where other currencies can replace the dollar or where a virtual currency like (the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights) can play its role," said Watanabe, who is now the president and chief executive of the state-backed Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
Group of 20 financial leaders will seek to firm up a plan to rebalance the world economy when they meet in Scotland this week, aiming to work out how to set national policy goals and make sure everyone keeps to them, officials say.
Foreign exchange rates are not expected to be a major topic at the meeting of finance ministers and central bankers on Friday and Saturday, but the issue may be discussed in relation to rebalancing the world economy, sources from the group say. (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto, Sumio Ito and Kei Okamura)