Russia said it would resume foreign currency interventions with the sale of yuan tomorrow, underscoring the growing importance of China’s currency in Moscow’s efforts to ensure economic stability as China stepped up a drive to facilitate the use of yuan for cross-border trade.
Russia’s finance ministry said it would sell 54.5 billion rubles (HK$6.19 billion) in foreign currency from January 13 amid lower oil and gas revenues.
The Russian central bank said it would carry out forex transactions on the yuan market of the Moscow Exchange – the yuan-rouble for settlement from tomorrow.
In Russia, where the US dollar was king following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the yuan has become a major player since the imposition of Western sanctions.
Meanwhile, China’s Ministry of Commerce and People’s Bank of China jointly encouraged the banks to issue loans in offshore yuan to lower the financing costs for overseas investments.
They also said the yuan usage for cross-border trade should be facilitated on open platforms including Hainan free trade ports, free trade zones and overseas economic and trade cooperation zones.
