Russia will raise the idea of a new international reserve currency at the meeting of the Group of Eight leading economic nations, top Kremlin economic aide Arkady Dvorkovich says.

He said that although Russia would not try to undermine the US dollar, there is a more immediate opportunity for some currencies to play a greater regional role, Reuters reported.

Dvorkovich, who was speaking to journalists on the eve of the G8 summit that begins in Italy on Wednesday, said the opportunity for new reserve currencies should be addressed during the G8 meeting.

China and Russia "will state that the creation of any reserve currencies is a gradual process that needs evolutionary development," he added. "This is connected with the creation of several regional reserve currencies, which may then become international."

Citing the current global financial downturn, he insisted that the time has come for governments to start thinking about exit plans.

Leaders from the G8 countries are expected to put plans to support the global financial regulation on the top of their agenda at their summit in Italy.

Policymakers of the eight major industrial countries are expected to agree that the world economy is still too fragile to remove stimulus actions.

MVZ/MD/AA