President
Vladimir Putin has raised the ante in Russia’s bid to cut dependence on
the dollar, urging greater use of the national currency, the ruble, in
oil deals.
Russian leaders, whose country is a top crude
exporter, have already proposed to carry out oil trade operations in
currencies other than the dollar, such as China's yuan.
Addressing
oil executives and government officials in the Kremlin, Putin renewed
the call, saying national currencies should be widely used in operations
with the countries with which Russia is actively trading
"A
serious consideration of the complex issue of enhancing the ruble's role
in settlements, including in the energy sector, should be started,"
Reuters quoted him as saying.
Moscow’s plans to cut transactions
in the dollar have found added momentum in the wake of Western
sanctions which restrict Russia’s access to international capital.
In
September, Putin proposed a bill to the country’s legislature to
eliminate the dollar and the euro from trade between member states of
the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
President Vladimir Putin has urged greater use of the rouble in oil deals.“This
would help expand the use of national currencies in foreign trade
payments and financial services and thus create preconditions for
greater liquidity of domestic currency markets,” a Kremlin statement
said then.
Members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) - Russia,
Belarus, Armenia and Kazakhstan - have already signed an agreement to
switch to their national currencies.
Iranian officials have also announced that a mechanism for transactions in national currencies with Russia was already in place.
Russia has proposed similar systems with Vietnam and Indonesia, Turkey and Egypt.
Meanwhile,
the country has banned imports of fruit, vegetables, fish and dairy
products from Europe, the US, Canada and Australia in retaliation.
