SCO promotes de-dollarization

According to RT (Russia), speaking at a meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State, Mr. Putin noted that members of the organization have increased the use of national currencies in common payments.

“Russia's share in trade transactions with the organization's members exceeded 92% in the first four months of this year,” President Putin said.

The global trend towards using local currencies in trade instead of the US dollar has gained significant momentum after Russia was cut off from the Western financial system and had its foreign exchange reserves frozen in 2022.

Mr. Putin also reiterated Russia's proposal to create an independent mechanism for settling payments within the SCO. At the same time, the Russian leader added that meetings between finance ministers and central bank governors help promote trade and investment relations within the organization.

Earlier this year, Central Bank of Russia (CBR) Governor Elvira Nabiullina noted that more countries were skeptical about the Western SWIFT payment system, after many Russian banks were cut off from the system due to the conflict with Ukraine that broke out in 2022.

Established in 2001, the SCO is an economic and security bloc that covers most of Eurasia and accounts for more than 20% of global gross domestic product (GDP). The organization includes India, Iran, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and, most recently, Belarus.