Russia, Turkey & Iran speeding up efforts to drop US dollar from trade - official
In response to US sanctions, Russia, Turkey and Iran are negotiating the reduction of the US dollar's share in mutual trade, Tehran Times daily quotes the country's central bank governor as saying.
Eliminating the greenback in mutual trade was most recently discussed by the three countries last weekend in Tehran during the trilateral summit of the Syrian ceasefire, said Iranian Central Bank Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati as quoted by the media.
“We have decided to proceed with further work in light of the agreements reached at a meeting with the Russian Central Bank governor in Moscow,” Hemmati was quoted as saying. According to Hemmati, the topics discussed also included oil and gas prices, expansion of banking ties and strengthening of economic relations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and their delegations visited Tehran last week for a trilateral summit on Syria and also to discuss expansion of ties.
Earlier, Erdogan described the Turkish lira's recent plunge to a record low as a “currency plot” and announced his readiness to get rid of the dollar in the country's trade with its partners.
Erdogan said the dollar was an obstacle for the Turkish economy. He urged the Turks “to gradually end the monopoly of the dollar once and for all by using local and national currency among us.”
Russia, which has been under the US sanctions since 2014, has been a long proponent of switching to local currencies in trade with its key partners like Turkey and China.
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