ALMATY, 6 September (BelTA) – The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is demonstrating an increasing interest in making settlements in national currencies, Chairman of the Management Board of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) Andrey Beliyaninov said at the Eurasian Mass Media Congress on 6 September, BelTA has learned.
Andrey Beliyaninov spoke about a possibility to use national currencies in mutual payments between the EDB member states. In his words, dollar and euro are getting less attractive because of their volatility. This makes economies turn to local currencies. “At present the EDB is busy looking for its niche and positioning itself on the markets of local currencies,” he said. He added that the EDB is member of all exchanges of the EAEU participating states.
“We can come up with a regional settlement unit that will be 100% based on gold value,” Andrey Beliyaninov emphasized. He noted that the EAEU member states have enough gold reserves. At the same time, he believes that ruble should be the regional settlement unit.
The Eurasian Mass Media Congress is taking place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on 5-8 September. The congress has gathered about 60 representatives of major mass media outlets of the Eurasian Development Bank. The plenary session focuses on the coordination of macroeconomic policies, the use of national currencies in mutual payments, investment cooperation of the EDB countries and the role of development institutions in Eurasia.
A series of panel sessions will discuss the development of partnership between the Eurasian Economic Union and other integration associations, the development of the Eurasian information space and the role of the EDB as a financial mechanism of the Eurasian integration.
The Eurasian Development Bank is an international financial institution founded by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 with the mission to facilitate the development of market economies, sustainable economic growth, and the expansion of mutual trade and other economic ties in its member states. The EDB's charter capital totals $7 billion. The member states of the Bank are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Tajikistan.
