Sell oil for gold, Mahathir says Monday, January 19, 2004 Posted: 0024 GMT ( 8:24 AM HKT)
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) -- Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has told Saudi Arabians they should sell oil for gold, not U.S. dollars, to avoid being "short-changed" by a decline in the U.S. currency.
"The price of oil is $33, but the U.S. dollar has declined by 40 percent against the euro so you're effectively getting $20," Mahathir told an economic conference in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea city of Jeddah on Sunday. "So you're being short-changed."
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, has justified higher world oil prices by saying they are necessary to compensate for the slide in the U.S. currency.
