A mechanism has been prepared in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) for the transition to settlements in national currencies to avoid dependence in trade on the dollar and the euro, Report informs citing BelTA that Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Igor Petrishenko said this following a meeting of the CIS Economic Council in Moscow.
According to Petrishenko, a report was heard by the head of the CIS Interstate Bank [Azerbaijan is not a member - ed.], prepared in connection with the sanctions of the West against Belarus and Russia, which affected the implementation of settlements within the Commonwealth.
“Such a mechanism has been created, it was in a rather inactive, unclaimed state,” the deputy prime minister noted.
“Now the head of the bank reported: all competencies are provided. Now the only task for the CIS countries and business is to more actively use the capabilities of the CIS Interstate Bank for mutual settlements in national currencies That is, each country will decide which national currency to interact with, taking into account the level of trade between the states," he said.
The Interstate Bank has created a settlement platform in national currencies, which serves the settlements of central (national) banks, interstate integration bodies, correspondent banks, and business entities of the CIS member states.
The promotion of mutual trade, including through the provision of new concessional lending instruments, will increase the attractiveness of the use of national currencies.
According to Petrishenko, "each country will decide which national currency to interact with, taking into account the level of trade between the states".