Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will approve a plan of dedollarization of Russsia’s economy within two weeks, The Bell reports.
The goal was earlier announced by VTB President and Chairman Andrey Kostin. Invest Foresight reported that the plan was generally supported by the Russian President. The plan’s draft may be put forward by the government in the very near future, but its implementation will be slow and gradual, and will take, according to Kostin, about five years.
According to The Bell’s sources, there will be no ban on settlements in dollars, circulation of the US currency will not be restricted, and private deposits in dollars will not be converted in the national currency. The subject of the plan is shifting to national currencies in foreign trade settlements. It is expected national currencies will be used in trade with not just neighboring countries such as Belarus and Kazakhstan, but with Europe and China as well. Settlements with the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union will be made in Russian rubles, with the EU in euros, and with China in yuans.
Economists are of an opinion that it is unlikely that in a foreseeable future Russia may succeed in building a financial system immune to the US sanctions, or in substantially strengthening the role Russian ruble may play as a regional currency. Nevertheless, it is quite possible to have settlements with partner countries in currencies other than US dollars.