WASHINGTON, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Thursday that the U.S. dollar remains the world's reserve currency after the dominant position of the currency is under widespread doubt.

    "My view is very straightforward -- the U.S. dollar remains the world's reserve currency," Rudd said in a speech at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think tank in Washington DC.

    "It's an important and essential stabilizing part of the global financial and economic future," he added.

    Early this week, U.S. President Barack Obama also expressed his confidence in the U.S. dollar, responding to a recent call by China's central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan.

    "As far as confidence in the U.S. economy or the dollar, I would just point out that the dollar is extraordinarily strong right now," Obama said. "I don't believe that there's a need for global currency."

    On Wednesday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also said that he is "quite open" to China's suggestion to create a super-sovereign reserve currency as part of reform in the international monetary system.

    Geithner's comments sent the dollar sharply lower in early trading as investors thought he supports China's suggestion. The U.S. currency regained grounds later after Geithner late Wednesday reiterated support of a strong dollar.

    "The dollar remains the world's dominant reserve currency," Geithner said. "I think that's likely to continue for a long period of time." He also said a strong dollar is in America's interest.

    In an article posted on the website of the People's Bank of China on Monday, Zhou proposed to create a super-sovereign reserve currency as part of reform in the international monetary system.

    The desirable goal of the international monetary system is to "create an international reserve currency that is disconnected from individual nations and is able to remain stable in the long run, thus removing the inherent deficiencies caused by using credit-based national currencies," Zhou said.

    The Special Drawing Right (SDR) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has the potential to act as a super-sovereign reserve currency, said the Chinese central bank chief, admitting the creation of a new reserve currency is a long-term goal that requires foresight and courage from state leaders of various countries.

    The SDR is an international reserve asset created by the IMF in1969, and it is only used by governments and international institutions.

    Last week, Russia announced a similar call for the introduction of a super-national reserve currency as part of the country's proposal to reform the international monetary and financial system at the upcoming London summit.

Special Report: Global Financial Crisis