RSPP proposed to create an analogue of the IMF currency for "non-sanctioned" currencies

it is advisable to create an international liquidity fund and a currency unit of account, in the basket of which there can be yuan, rupee, gold, says the HEAD of the RSPP, Alexander Shokhin. Such work can be carried out with partners in the SCO,

President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) Alexander Shokhin considers it necessary to create an international platform for settlements in the national currencies of the so-called friendly countries. He made such a statement on Wednesday, December 21, to journalists, RBC correspondent reports.

According to Shokhin, 83% of companies surveyed by the RSPP consider direct settlements in “non-sanctioned” currencies to be the most effective tool for dealing with sanctions risks. In this regard, there is a need to create "platforms and institutions that would provide settlements in non-sanctioned currencies," he said.

“We are talking about creating an international liquidity fund, a kind of digital settlement and clearing platform and a settlement and clearing unit,” Shokhin said, adding that this issue was discussed two years ago at the site of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and with partners in the Shanghai Organization cooperation (SCO) and BRICS.

“We really need to create some kind of platform and gradually add currencies of friendly countries to it, this may be the rupee, and other currencies,” the head of the RSPP specified. In any case, according to him, “we need digital platforms, a digital yuan, a digital ruble, a digital rupee, all this is needed with digital clearing settlements.” “It has to be done quickly enough, and it will be for a long time. And this is a reaction not only to sanctions,” he said.

Looking for a payment unit

Shokhin recalled that RUSSIA and other countries have experience in using payment and settlement units. He cited the example of the transferable ruble, which was used in the Soviet years by the countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA), and the ecu, the predecessor of the euro, the European currency unit in 1979-1998.

He also mentioned the SDR, the Special Drawing Rights, an international reserve asset created by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). SDRs are the unit of account of the IMF and some other international organizations and can be exchanged for the currencies of the IMF member states. The value of the SDR is based on a basket of five currencies - the US DOLLAR , the euro, the Chinese yuan, the Japanese yen and the pound sterling.

Read on RBC Pro Where to register a company in the UAE: choosing between free zone and mainland Urgently and with a discount of up to 25%: how mobilization has changed the real estate market Martial law and special regimes in the regions: what threatens your property End of preferential mortgages:what will happen to the shares of developers

An analogue of the SDR can be introduced within the framework of the SCO, Shokhin believes, by including gold in it and increasing the share of the yuan. Although, he admits, it is unlikely that this can happen quickly. Also, a new payment and settlement unit could be “attached” to the BRICS, the head of the RSPP did not rule out.

As for the BRICS, Russia is more interested in creating such a platform than other members of the organization, since it is forced to trade under sanctions, said Valery Yemelyanov, an expert on the stock market at BCS Mir Investments. The other members of the club have no urgent need for an alternative. “For more than a decade, the BRICS countries have been talking about the need to create something like a second IMF with its SDR,” he recalls, emphasizing that nothing has been done in this direction yet.

“In particular, CHINA trades mainly with developed countries. EU, usa, Japan are its main partners. Russia ranks tenth in China's trade turnover next to Thailand. Beijing is not very interested in some kind of hybrid complex platforms, it is easier for it to buy Russian raw materials for yuan, which it is doing now. India is even less important to him, she is in the second ten in terms of trade; accordingly, the rupee is even less interesting than the Russian ruble,” says Yemelyanov. Brazil is geographically even further away, and it is even less tied to trade with Asia, the expert adds. He sees the prospects for a conditional currency alliance for Russia from the BRICS countries only for India, but in the current conditions it is difficult due to sanctions risks.

This is not the first time that the RSPP has come up with proposals for organizing international payments under sanctions. In particular, the idea was voiced to legalize foreign trade settlements in cryptocurrency and allow non-banking credit organizations to open correspondent accounts in foreign banks.

The RSPP also pointed out that the development of cross-border settlements in national currencies is hindered by the absence of swap lines - agreements between two central banks on the mutual exchange of currencies at fixed rates. Most national currencies - including the ruble - are "soft", that is, limited convertible or non-convertible, whose exchange rate is subject to significant fluctuations. Hard, freely convertible currencies include the dollar, the euro, and the pound sterling. To curb exchange rate fluctuations of "soft" currencies, such an instrument as "snake in the tunnel" can be used, when certain limits for fluctuations of rates down and up are set between "soft" currencies. This mechanism was used in the European Economic Union in the early 1970s.

Shokhin on business support in new regions

According to the head of the RSPP, for many large Russian companies, the enterprises of the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions are attractive in terms of cooperation in terms of their profile - metallurgy, coal, chemical industries. The main problem is how to maintain production volumes under the condition of a reduction in exports; it is necessary to preserve jobs and the profile of enterprises. “We need to look at how best to structure this from the federal point of view,” Shokhin said.

He suggested that it will be necessary to bring these enterprises to the Russian market, and through Russian partners they will be able to access foreign markets.

Investments will be required to restore business in new regions, many enterprises are in a state requiring reconstruction, Shokhin noted.