The exchange rate for transactions with ‘friendly’ countries is still calculated through the greenback
Moscow is looking for ways to unpeg settlements with foreign partners from the US dollar, RBK reported on Saturday, citing sources in the financial market and the government.
Russia has stepped up efforts to switch international settlements to national currencies after a number of Western nations placed sanctions on the country earlier this year in connection with the conflict in Ukraine. As sanctions jeopardized Russia’s transactions in euros and the dollar, these currencies have been deemed compromised.
However, the exchange rate used in cross-border trade in local currencies is still calculated through the dollar. For example, when determining the ruble-tenge rate, the rate of the Kazakh currency is calculated through the dollar to determine the ruble price of a tenge and vice versa.
RBK’s sources say that Russia’s Central Bank and Finance Ministry are now working together with banks on a mechanism that would allow Russia to set prices for foreign contracts using new indicators that don’t take into account the dollar exchange rate.
One way is to create a basket of currencies that would presumably be pegged to one another. Another option is to introduce a new payment unit for foreign trade contracts, the value of which would be pegged to commodities such as gold and other precious metals. In that case, the exchange rate world depend on the average prices of these commodities in global markets.
A third option on the table is simply to peg the national currencies to gold or oil. However, this may also be problematic because both oil and gold are priced in dollars.
One source told RBK that the exchange rate in foreign trade contracts could be calculated using the Chinese yuan instead of the dollar, as China has not sided with the West in the sanctions war against Russia. However, the yuan is not a freely convertible currency and Beijing’s consent would be required for the mechanism to be implemented.
https://www.rt.com/business/566816-russia-decouple-national-currencies-dollar/
Volker Turk has warned that efforts to advance reparatory justice are facing resistance in “certain quarters,” and urged countries to back Africa’s push.
Reparatory justice for historical crimes, including colonialism, enslavement, and the trade in enslaved Africans, is crucial to dismantling systemic racism, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has said.
Speaking at the UN Permanent Forum on People of African Descent on Tuesday, Turk linked present-day discrimination against people from the continent to the enduring legacy of colonialism and enslavement.
”Racism and dehumanizing rhetoric continue to permeate public institutions, communities, and online platforms,” he said, according to the UN Press Service. Turk noted that “digital technologies, including AI, are reproducing and amplifying existing biases against people of African descent.”
The remarks come weeks after the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade “the gravest...
The US VP had to defend President Trump’s Gaza policy at a rally on a Georgia college campus.
US Vice President J.D. Vance was forced to defend Washington’s policy in Gaza after he was booed and heckled at a key MAGA event on Wednesday.
Co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is a conservative student group that has long been seen as a strong support base of President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement but is now showing apparent cracks.
Less than 15 minutes into a TPUSA event at the University of Georgia on Wednesday, Vance was interrupted by hecklers over US policy in Gaza, with one audience member shouting, “Jesus Christ does not support genocide!” As he attempted to respond, others shouted, “You’re killing children!” and “You’re bombing children!”
Vance replied by referring to Trump’s achievements as president, including securing a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, something he said the previous administration of Joe Biden failed to do.
“I ...
Sergey Shoigu has cautioned Finland and the Baltic states against allowing Kiev to use their airspace for attacks on Russia.
Russia would have the right to retaliate if Finland and the Baltic states are deliberately allowing Ukrainian drones to pass through their airspace, Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu said on Thursday.
“Recently, there has been an increase in Ukrainian drone strikes against Russia via Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia,” Shoigu told journalists. “As a result, civilians are suffering and significant damage is being caused to civilian infrastructure.”
Either Western air defenses are proving ineffective, or these four countries “deliberately provide their airspace, thereby becoming open accomplices in aggression against Russia,” he added. In the latter case, Moscow has the right to self-defense in response to an “armed attack” under Article 51 of the UN Charter, the security chief stressed.
In recent weeks, Kiev has intensified drone strikes on ...
