China’s yuan replaces US dollar, euro as Russia’s ‘primary’ foreign currency for overseas economic activity
- Russian central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina says the yuan’s share in Russia’s exports has increased from 0.4 to 34.5 per cent over the last two years
- Beijing has ramped up efforts to boost the yuan’s global appeal, with the expansion of the Brics group this year offering China more opportunities
China’s yuan has become the “primary” foreign currency for Russia’s overseas economic activity, according to Russian central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina, as Western sanctions choke its economy and push Moscow closer to Beijing.
Beijing had already been ramping up efforts to boost the yuan’s global appeal as an alternative to the US dollar for international settlements and as a reserve currency.
But analysts said it still faces a reality check in multilateral deals even amid an expansion of the Brics group of developing economies at the start of the year.
Foreign economic activity is very actively switching to the use of other currencies, primarily the yuan
“Until 2022, there was a significant share of dollars and euros in our reserves – it was due to the fact that foreign trade contracts were largely in dollars and euros,” Nabiullina said in an interview with Russian news agency RIA Novosti published on Tuesday.
