Saudi central bank: report on replacing dollar is wrong

1 of 2. An employee of the Korea Exchange Bank counts one hundred dollar notes at the bank's headquarters in Seoul February 3, 2009.

Credit: Reuters/Jo Yong-Hak

ISTANBUL | Tue Oct 6, 2009 3:32am EDT

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A newspaper report that Gulf Arab states are in secret talks to replace the U.S. dollar in the trading of oil is wrong, Saudi Arabia's central bank chief said on Tuesday.

Asked by reporters about the story in Britain's The Independent, Muhammad al-Jasser said: "Absolutely incorrect."

Asked whether Saudi Arabia was in such talks, he replied: "Absolutely not."

Asked whether Saudi Arabia was committed to the dollar, he said: "You asked the question, I answered it. You asked about the story."

The Independent quoted unidentified sources as saying Gulf Arab states were in secret talks with Russia, China, Japan and France to replace the U.S. dollar with a basket of currencies in the trading of oil.

(Reporting by Simon Rabinovitch; Editing by Andrew Torchia)
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