Political disputes damaging $ as reserve currency: Putin

Johannesburg: Russian President Vladimir Putin today said "political disputes" were damaging the dollar as a reserve currency, shortly after Moscow exited the list of the biggest foreign holders of US government debt.

"Many countries in the world are saying that we need to create new reserve currencies -- this will make the world economy more stable," he said in Johannesburg.

"With regard to our American partners and the restrictions they have put in place, especially with regard to dollar payments, it is a big strategic mistake, because it undermines confidence in the dollar," he said. "We must minimise risks -- we see what is happening with these illegal sanctions," he added of measures first imposed by Washington against Moscow over its annexation of Crimea and support for Russian-speaking separatists in Ukraine.