IT IS very rare for any head of the state to take a dig or speak against the US, but  Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, in his speech on Monday at the Russian political youth camp said that the US is a ‘parasite’ on the World Economy. It is because of the huge debt that the US has incurred that the global financial system is under threat. It is also to be understood that Russia also holds a considerable amount of U.S. bonds and government treasury bills but the Russians have recently reduced their purchase of US treasuries.

The US has been under a serious cloud as they owe around 47 percent of money to other foreign countries. Japan, China and the United Kingdom top their list.

It is not for the first time that Putin has been critical about the US economy. Putin also held a strong view regarding an urgent need for a new reserve currency for various kinds of trades. Last year talks were held between Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian President and Chinese officials, as they were thinking of moving the reserve assets into the Chinese currency of Yuan and not dollars. Some economic experts are also of the view that Russia should look to strike a deal with China as it would hold the Chinese debt.