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Mahathir proposes gold dinar as currency for international trade
KUALA LUMPUR:
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad proposed Tuesday that the gold dinar be used for international trade to prevent a repeat of the currency crisis which devastated Asia in 1997-98.
The Malaysian premier, who blames greedy currency traders for Asia's downfall in the crisis, said paper currency had no intrinsic value, making the exchange rate "arbitrary and subject to manipulation as we saw during the Asian financial crisis."
In comparison, the gold dinar had a definite value based on world demand for gold and any fluctuations were minimal, he said.
According to Islamic law, the dinar is a specific weight of gold equivalent to 4.3 grams.
"The proposal is to make this dinar a currency for international trade only.
It is not meant to replace the currency of any country," he said when launching a two-day conference on Islamic capital markets.
"The risk of speculation can be reduced to almost nothing.
World trade can actually expand because the cost of business will be much reduced as the need to hedge will practically disappear."
Outlining details, Mahathir, who is also finance minister, said local gold prices would determine the exchange rate for the local currency against the dinar.
"The dinar can be held as central bank reserve.
Trade need not be paid in actual dinar but the imports and exports of a pair of trading nations can be balanced and only the difference paid in dinar," he said.
To further minimise the need to move the dinar, he said trade surplus or deficit can be credited or debited against future imports or exports.
Southeast Asia's longest-serving leader urged developing nations to press for more balanced globalisation and "a check on economic bullying practices" made in the name of free markets and portfolio flows.
Mahathir said Islamic countries, which were left behind in the industrial revolution, must now "move with the tide into the information age" to keep pace with advanced nations.
"Islam is not and has never been synonymous with conservatism.
Islam does not call for rejection of technology or modernity," he said.
In Malaysia, the premier said, deposits in the Islamic banking sector had surged to 35.9 billion ringgit (9.5 billion dollars) in 1999, from only 4.9 billion in 1995.
Islamic banking assets accounted for only 6.9 per cent of total banking assets in 2000 but the sector was targeted to capture at least 20 per cent of the banking market share by 2010.
Mahathir said Islamic capital markets must introduce indigenous financial products to remain competitive, and not only imitate and adapt from the conventional financial system.
He also called for more Islamic financial portals to broaden online trading to keep up with the new economy.
Securities Commission chairman Ali Abdul Kadir earlier told the conference that there was a need to woo more investment from more than 100 Islamic equity funds operating globally.
Global Islamic investment was estimated to be expanding by 12-15 per cent annually, with some one trillion dollars of Middle East funds presently invested in banks worldwide, he added.
Predominantly Muslim Malaysia aims to be the key Islamic financial centre in Asia and has drawn up plans to develop the Islamic system under a 10-year capital market blueprint unveiled last year.
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/mar2002-daily/27-03-2002/business/b16.htm
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