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Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People’s Bank of China, is adamant in pushing for an alternative international currency, this is what I stumbled upon on CNN. He is pushing for the wider use of International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Right or SDR.

This is the first time that I’ve heard about SDR, it is, according to the article, is an accounting unit based on the euro, Japanese yen, pound sterling and U.S. dollar.

Wikipedia defined SDR as a “basket of major currencies used in international trade and finance. At present, the currencies in the basket are, by weight, the U.S. dollar, euro, Japanese yen and pound sterling.” Adding further that “the amounts of each currency making up one SDR are chosen in accordance with the relative importance of the currency in international trade and finance. The determination of the currencies in the SDR basket and their amounts is made by the IMF Executive Board every five years.”

Quite a mouthful of information, I must say, Zhou said that the expanded use of SDR would ease dependence on any one currency and limit the effects of a single country’s fiscal policies. He could probably refer to the U.S. dollar and its effect on the world market.

President Barack Obama, for his part, said that there is no need for a global currency.

Next week, G-20 or Group of 20 will have their economic summit in London and China’s suggestions might preempt any discussions that will tackled by the delegates. G-20’s formal name is the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, and they represent 85 percent of world’s gross domestic product.

Would an alternative international currency be really beneficial to all countries?

Let’s just wait and see.