Russia and Pakistan are discussing the possibility of switching to settlements in national currencies in trade, Ambassador of Pakistan in Moscow Shafqat Ali Khan said in an interview with TASS.
"This is one of the topics of discussion. There are a number of practical issues related to the banking sector. Russia has more experience, and we asked for clarification on how it deals with trade issues with other countries. Unlike Russia, Pakistan has no experience in settlements in national currencies, we would like to learn that," he said, responding to a question about how Moscow and Islamabad intend to conduct trade in the new environment. - "We hope that the intergovernmental commission will consider these issues and give instructions to the relevant agencies."
"The problem is that Pakistan carries out trade settlements mainly in dollars or euros, and we have some experience of barter trade. With Iran, for example, we have a significant amount of barter trade. But we don't have experience in how to deal with currency fluctuations, conversion, if we trade in rupees and rubles. So we want to learn how to do that," the diplomat added.
In addition, Ali Khan said the sides also intend to discuss the possibility of trading in yuan. "That's something we want to discuss as well. Political will is one thing, but it takes experience and time to implement it. Bilateral trade is extremely important to us. A decrease in trade with any one country may not affect Russia as much, but it is very significant for us. We don't want our trade with Russia to be affected," he stressed.
According to the ambassador, Pakistan is also open to dialogue on the possibility of using the Russian payment system "Mir" in the country. "We are open to discussion, but it will be after we solve the issues related to currency conversion, trade," the diplomat pointed out.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Federation Council
Based on materials from TASS