Russia is egging Southeast Asian countries to ditch the dollar to get around Western sanctions — and it shows just how desperately it wants to save its flagging economy
Russia’s foreign minister urged Southeast Asian countries to trade with Russia using local currencies.
Even President Vladimir Putin championed the use of local currencies for trade in recent weeks.
Russia’s economy is flailing, and Moscow wants to prop it up so badly that it’s repeatedly urging countries to trade in any currency but the US dollar.
On Thursday, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov was in Indonesia, where he plugged Southeast Asian countries to ditch the dollar and instead use their own national currencies to trade with Russia.
Russia’s trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — a 10-country intergovernmental bloc — fell by 4.4% in 2022 from a year ago. The depressed trading numbers are the result of sweeping Western sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, the Russian foreign ministry said in a Tuesday statement before a summit of the association held in Indonesia.
“To help correct the situation, the issue of holding consultations on using national currencies in transactions is being considered,” the foreign ministry said, per the statement.
Lavrov’s comments touting non-dollar currencies for trade with Russia echo recent comments from President Vladimir Putin, who also championed using local currencies in recent weeks.
#modernbusinessasia #news #business #asia #market #stock #health #india #china #indonesia #singapore #malaysia #southkorea #thailand #japan #Hongkong #Vietnam
