MOSCOW, August 29. /TASS/. The share of payments in national currencies between member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has surged from 40% in 2022 to 92% by now, Russia’s Economic Development Deputy Minister Dmitry Volvach told a press conference.

"In 2022, the share of national currencies in payments between SCO member states amounted to 40% <…> whereas now it totals 92%," he said.

The SCO was founded on June 15, 2001, in Shanghai. Initially the organization included Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, while in 2017 they were joined by India and Pakistan. Tehran applied to join in 2008 and became a full-fledged member of the organization in July 2023. At the SCO summit in New Delhi last June, Belarus signed a memorandum of commitment in order to obtain the status of a member state of the organization. In total, the SCO family, which includes dialogue partners and observers, consists of 26 countries.