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Share of international payments in alternative currencies up 2.3 times — Central Bank

It is noted that a significant portion of export and import payments remains in dollars and euro

MOSCOW, December 1. /TASS/. The share of international settlements and payments in currencies other than the dollar and the euro moved up from 21% to almost 50%, the Bank of Russia said in its Financial Stability Review.

"The buildup of payments in alternative currencies is associated with inherent difficulties - infrastructure should be created to this end (the system of correspondent accounts, methods of messages transmission, the infrastructure of currency exchange transactions - via the exchange or on the interbank market, and so on). Such infrastructure is being developed at present. In particularly, about 50% of payments already take place in currencies alternative to the US dollar and the euro, while this figure was 21% at the year start. The Bank of Russia is working proactively with other regulators to promote the creation of the new payment infrastructure, including with the use of new technologies," the Central Bank said.

A significant portion of export and import payments remains in dollars and euro, the regulator noted. "Such payments are significantly obstructed at present because a large percentage of banks is under sanctions and they cannot perform such transactions. A portion of banks was disconnected from SWIFT and it is difficult for them to make such transactions," the Central Bank added.

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