Russia, Turkey Discuss Use of Ruble and Lira in Bilateral Trade

Russia and Turkey discussed ways to boost the use of the ruble and the lira in bilateral trade.

Central bank and government officials from the two countries met in Moscow Sept. 26-Sept. 28 to consider “proposals on possible ways to increase settlements in the national currencies and measures needed to broaden interbank cooperation,” Bank Rossii said today in a statement on its website. Policy makers asked commercial banks to help them study the most promising industries for trade to shift to the ruble and lira, according to the statement.

Russia has sought to bolster the use of the ruble and other emerging-market alternatives to the dollar in trade, including through the so-called BRICS group of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Central bankers met officials in Brasilia in August and agreed that using the ruble and real in trade was more “appropriate” than the dollar.

Russia and Turkey traded $17.46 billion of goods in the first seven months of 2011, 26 percent higher than a year earlier, according to Russia’s customs service. Turkey accounted for about 3.8 percent of Russian trade, down from 4.1 percent in the same period last year, customs data show.

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Rose in Moscow at [email protected]

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at [email protected]

via Russia, Turkey Discuss Use of Ruble and Lira in Bilateral Trade – Bloomberg.