Transactions in dollars and euros could be banned within the member-states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) — Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia, Itar Tass reported on Tuesday.
The EEU countries could switch to national currencies (ruble, Belarusian ruble, Kazakhstani tenge and Armenian dram) in mutual payments by 2025-2030, the chairman of the board of directors of Russia’s National Payment Council, Alexander Murychev said.
“It is necessary to raise a question before the national banks of the member-states on excluding the US dollar and the euro from interstate payment transactions,” said Murychev, detailing a concept for the EEU development, which was unveiled during a meeting in Kazan on Friday.
Statistics shows that around a half of mutual payment operations between the EEU member-states account for the US and the euro, thus increasing the dependence of the trade bloc on the foreign countries’ economies.
The new concept envisages that the EEU member-states should create a joint payment space allowing carrying out transactions with due regard to the compatibility of national card systems, including BelCard (Belarus), Armenian Card (Armenia) and their Russian counterpart, which is currently under development.
Natalya Burykina, who chairs a committee on financial market of the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, said the initiative of switching to the national currencies makes sense as the idea is to create a single economic space in the framework of the EEU, according to the report.
