NEW YORK, Aug 13 (Reuters) - International financier George
Soros on Thursday said he had no short position in the Russian
rouble and has no interest in shorting the currency.
In a statement provided to Reuters, Soros also said a
potential devaluation of the Russian rouble would hurt Soros's
fund portfolio.
Soros also said that his letter to the editor of British
daily Financial Times, published on Thursday, should serve as a
"wake-up call" to the world's most industrialized nations that
Russia needs foreign assistance.
Russian financial markets plummeted on Thursday and U.S.
currency traders said that Soros's statement, in which he
suggested Moscow should introduce a currency board after a
modest 15 to 25 percent devaluation, further undermined
confidence.
In his statement Soros, however, said, "The turmoil in
Russian financial markets is not due to anything I said or did."
The dollar slipped against the mark toward its session low of
1.7820 immediately after Soros's statement was released, but
soon began nudging higher again.
((--N.A. Treasury Desk, 212-859-1638 ))
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