Russia Calls For Transition To Oil Trading in National Currencies, Says Russian Deputy PM Alexander Novak

Moscow, March 23: Confidence in oil trading in dollars and euros is now undermined by sanctions, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday. In his opinion, in the future, when making calculations, it is necessary to actively switch to national currencies, RT reported.

"The currency in the form of dollar or euro is quite unreliable today... We see that there is a restriction, and this undermines the credibility of these currencies. In the future, it is necessary to more actively switch to trading in national currencies. This will provide greater reliability," Novak was quoted by Ria Novosti.

Western anti-Russian sanctions may force a number of countries to abandon foreign exchange reserves in dollars and euros, said Neil Kimberley, an expert in macroeconomics and financial markets, in an article published in the South China Morning Post. The analyst also suggested that now the yuan will become popular as a reserve currency.

"In other countries, politicians may feel that their own holding structure should be even more diversified, and they may be tempted to increase their yuan holdings," Kimberley said. Russia-Ukraine War: Russians Forces Destroy Chernihiv Bridge to Kyiv.

Meanwhile, Russia will now accept payment for gas exports to "unfriendly countries" in rubles only, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the government on Wednesday. The Russian President explained that Russia plans to abandon all "compromised" currencies in payment settlements, RT reported.

He added that illegitimate decisions by a number of Western countries to freeze Russia's assets have destroyed all confidence in their currencies. "I have decided to implement in the shortest possible time a set of measures to change the payments for -- yes let's start with this -- for our natural gas supplied to the so-called unfriendly countries in Russian rubles, that is to stop using all compromised currencies for transactions," Putin said.

He gave the Central Bank and the government a week to determine the procedure for operations for buying rubles on the domestic market for the importers of Russian gas. Russia-Ukraine War: Germany Refuses To Boycott Russian Energy Supplies.

The President added that Russia will continue to supply gas in accordance with the volumes and pricing principles of the contracts. Only the currency of payment will change, the report said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 23, 2022 10:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).