LONDON, April 2 (London) - Russia proposed on Thursday launching a study on creating a new international reserve currency, which would compete with the U.S. dollar, but the idea was not discussed at the G20 summit.
Strengthened regional currencies would be a basis for the new unit, which could also be partially backed by gold, Russia said in a statement released on the sidelines of the summit.
China and Russia in recent weeks have floated ideas about reducing reliance on the U.S. dollar as the world's primary unit of foreign exchange, possibly by developing the Special Drawing Rights issued by the International Monetary Fund.
But currencies have not been a focus on the G20 financial summit.
"The new global reserve currency has not been discussed at the summit. We only discussed it at several bilateral meetings," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's chief economic aide Arkady Dvorkovich told a news briefing.