On June 24 local time, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in an interview with CNN that the negotiations between the United States and Iran include bringing this long-time rival into the dollar system, with oil sales settled in dollars.
In negotiations with Iran, we saw that Iran was going to use US dollars for settlement. He indicated that this was part of a broader trend in global economic development where the US currency consolidates its dominant position.
Berson also said that the U.S. Treasury will oversee the handling of the frozen Iranian funds, and the operations will take place in Doha, Qatar. “A significant portion of these funds will be used to purchase American food and medicine. Therefore, we will channel these funds back into American products.”
When asked about the tradition of U.S. Treasury Secretaries tending to a strong dollar, Besent replied, “What we value is taking the right measures to keep the dollar strong.”
‘I believe that the main reason why the US dollar is strengthening is that our economic growth is leaving other parts of the world behind.’ He also insisted that even in an environment of interest rate cuts, as long as the economy grows rapidly, the US dollar can remain strong.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Ben Sassen - File Photo
In late evening on June 23 local time, Besent spoke at the Economic Club of New York, stating that the concept of a ‘strong dollar’ is not solely based on exchange rates.
When talking about the depreciation of the US dollar since the beginning of last year, he said, "I don't wake up one day thinking 'That's great, it helps the economy'. I just see it as a price figure on the screen."
"Dollar dominance is critical," Bersent said on CNBC's program later: "Everything we do is geared towards advancing the dollar."
"Venezuela will adopt a dollar-based pricing system, they are returning to the dollar system," Besson said. He mentioned that, before the sanctions imposed on Venezuela, including the forced abduction of Venezuelan president Maduro, the Latin American country was "forbidden" from using dollars for transactions.
Bazente said that Venezuela was selling oil at discount prices at that time, but couldn’t obtain dollars. Now, “dollars will be the core of its trade.”
He also predicted that after the end of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia might return to the US dollar system. He claimed that the US dollar has global appeal because of “our liquidity, our capital markets, and the depth and breadth of the market, which everyone wants to participate in.”
