Friday, November 15, 2013

Russia Seeks To Ban U.S. Dollar & Predicts Scheduled Collapse in 2017

Russian lawmaker seeks to ban US dollar, predicts 2017 collapse

Published time: November 13, 2013 19:53
Edited time: November 15, 2013 11:39

RIA Novosti / Mikhail Mordasov

To protect Russians against the “collapsing US debt pyramid”, a Russian legislator has filed a draft bill to ban circulation of the currency in Russia.
Once a Moscow mayoral hopeful, Mikhail Degtyarev, 32, likens the US dollar to a worldwide ponzi scheme which he says is scheduled to end in 2017.
“If US national debt continues to grow at its current rate, the dollar system will collapse in 2017,” the submitted draft legislation says.
“In light of this, the fact that confidence in the US dollar is growing among Russian citizens is extremely dangerous,” Degtyarev wrote in his explanatory note attached to the bill.
The bill would impose a ban on dollars within a year of its passage, and any private citizen holding accounts in dollars would either need to spend the money or convert it to another currency. There is no proposed ban on the euro, British pound, yen, or yuan.
If one doesn’t exchange or transfer dollars within a year, the dollars will be seized by officials, and reimbursed in rubles within 30 calendar days.
Under the proposed legislation, Russians would still be able to use dollars abroad and have foreign bank accounts, as well as buy goods on the Internet in dollars.
The Russian government, Central Bank, Foreign Ministry, Federal Treasury, Federal Security Service, and other state branches would be exempt from the law.
To protect Russian nationals, Degtyarev proposes to end dollar transactions and deposits at Russian banks, which would give rise to the ruble, and end dependence on the world’s dominant currency.
Part of the bill aims to restore the prestige of the ruble, which has weakened as the Russian economy battles inflation and slow growth.

Raising the prestige of the ruble by nixing foreign currency isn’t a novel idea- it was practiced during the Soviet Union when holding foreign currencies was illegal. A similar ‘anti-dollar’ proposal was filed by Duma deputies in 2003, but completely flopped.

Russian lawmaker wants to outlaw U.S. dollar, calls it a Ponzi scheme

By Marc Bennetts - Special to The Washington Times

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Enlarge Photo
Just-cut stacks of $100 bills make their way down the production line ... more >

MOSCOW — Predicting the imminent collapse of the U.S. dollar, a Russian lawmaker submitted a bill to his country’s parliament Wednesday that would ban the use or possession of the American currency.
Mikhail Degtyarev, the lawmaker who proposed the bill, compared the dollar to a Ponzi scheme. He warned that the government would have to bail out Russians holding the U.S. currency if it collapses.
“If the U.S. national debt

continues to grow, the collapse of the dollar system will take place in 2017,” said Mr. Degtyarev, a member of the nationalist Liberal Democrat Party who lost in Moscow’s recent mayoral election.
“The countries that will suffer the most will be those that have failed to wean themselves off their dependence on the dollar in time. In light of this, the fact that confidence in the dollar is growing among Russian citizens is extremely dangerous.”