Belarus PM call for using national currencies in EEU trade
MINSK. KAZINFORM - The countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) should use national currencies in mutual trade, Belarusian Prime Minister Andrei Kobyakov said in an interview with the RIA Novosti news agency, BelTA has learned.
"We should switch to setting prices in national currencies. If we do this, it will be easier to introduce a single currency than if we use currencies of third countries in mutual payments," Andrei Kobyakov noted.
He emphasized that full economic integration is impossible without a single currency. "Meanwhile, I believe that the most important thing at the current stage is to eliminate barriers and ensure effective operation of the common market of capital, goods, and services. To introduce a single currency, we should first of all create conditions for this, and mutual integration of economic activity is one of them," Andrei Kobyakov said.
An agreement was signed in the EEU to establish a supranational body for regulating the financial market which is expected to become operational in Kazakhstan in 2025. One of the common tasks is to harmonize financial market regulations.
"Pricing is a matter of special importance for us today. The most important thing is to stop setting prices in respective currencies," the head of the Belarusian government stressed.
In his words, the prospects of introducing a single currency in the EEU will be more promising when a common economic space with equal conditions and without barriers is formed and when the prices are set in national currencies. "Keeping in mind the plans that we have signed in the Eurasian Economic Union, it will take us till 2025 or longer to create the necessary preconditions," Andrei Kobyakov explained.
He stressed that these are not just rules, but necessary conditions. "We should fulfill all the tasks set in the document, and then we will see if we are ready for further steps," the head of the Belarusian government pointed out.
Andrei Kobyakov said that on 8 April, the leaders of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union will meet in Yerevan to review the status of implementation of the plans that include drafting of agreements. "In some areas, we are behind the schedule. The delays are not critical, but still they exist," the Belarusian Prime Minister noted, Kazinform refers to eng.belta.by.