President Barack Obama said if the United States has a strong economy it will have a strong dollar, in rare comments about the U.S. currency in an interview with Russian television broadcast on Saturday.Obama also expressed fresh American concern over the debt turmoil roiling Greece, which has affected world markets.The interviewer from Russian television's state-run Channel Rossiya asked Obama whether he would like to see a weaker or a stronger dollar."My basic principle is to focus on the fundamentals of the economy. I think that if we have a strong U.S. economy we're going to have a strong dollar," Obama said, according to an English-language transcript of the May 6 interview provided by the White House.Obama's remarks were unusual as he normally leaves it to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to take the lead role in commenting on the U.S. currency.Geithner has typically repeated his long-standing mantra that a strong dollar is in the U.S. interest and its value would reflect the strength of the U.S. economy.Some foreign investors, including China, expressed concern about dollar weakness late last year. Russia joined China in calling for discussion of the possibility of creating a new international reserve currency."GREECE TAKING DIFFICULT MEASURES"Obama's comments about the dollar would have been of keen interest to his Russian audience given that many Russians, including the government, have their savings in dollars.In the midst of the global economic crisis last year, Russian leaders called for less global dependence on the dollar and took steps to reduce the dollar's share of Russia's foreign exchange reserve holdings, the world's third largest.But the dollar has grown stronger as worries about the Greek debt crisis have driven investors out of the euro.The dollar strengthened to around $1.27 per euro last week from over $1.50 last December, when evidence of a U.S. recovery was less clear and there were growing concerns the U.S. budget deficit would continue to rise.Obama, who receives regular briefings from top economic advisers about Greece's debt turmoil, said he was "very concerned" about the crisis."But I think it is an issue that the Europeans recognize is very serious," he added."Greece is taking some very difficult measures -- at least they've put forward a plan that calls for difficult measures. And if we can stabilize Europe that will be good for the United States and that will be good for Russia as well."Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has agreed to implement austerity measures in exchange for billions of euros in EU/IMF aid, but many Greeks have reacted angrily, with tens of thousands taking to the streets to protest against the planned cuts in wages and pensions.(Reporting by Ross Colvin and David Lawder in Washington, additional reporting by Steve Gutterman in Moscow; Editing by Will Dunham and Todd Eastham)News posted by www.newsinfoline.com
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