Buffett Says U.S. Dollar to Remain Weak Versus Other Currencies

In "bloomberg.com":

May 3 (Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Warren Buffett, the chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said he thought the U.S. dollar will keep weakening against other currencies.

If Buffett, ``landed from Mars today with a billion of Mars dollars, or whatever they call them on Mars, and I was thinking about where to put my money,'' he wouldn't put it all in the U.S. currency, he said today during a question-and-answer session at Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting.

Buffett, 77, has made investments with the assumption the U.S. dollar will weaken since at least 2002, first with direct bets against the currency, and later with his first purchase of a non-U.S. company.

``The U.S. is going to continue to follow policies that make the dollar weaker,'' Buffett said.

Americans' preference for foreign goods causes the country to send about $2 billion in ``IOUs'' and assets overseas every day, putting pressure on the dollar, Buffett said in his annual letter to shareholders.

He also said today that he feels ``no need'' to hedge against currency risk when buying large companies outside the U.S.