Russia is gradually reducing the share of the U.S. dollar in the US economy and foreign exchange reserves, Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said.
"For example, within the framework of the EAEU, settlements in national currencies have grown to 74%. We are systematically increasing trade in national currencies with China and Turkey," Kommersant cited him as saying.
The speaker of the lower house also recalled that in late February Russia changed the currency structure of the National Wealth Fund, including the Japanese yen and the Chinese yuan. At the same time, Volodin stressed, the share of U.S. dollars and euros decreased from 45% to 35%, while the share of the pound sterling remained at the level of ten percent.
Earlier, chairperson of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko said that the U.S. dollar will remain in circulation in Russia, but the economy’s dependence on it must be reduced.
The Federation Council speaker also recalled that Russian gold and foreign exchange reserves are already much less dependent on the dollar, but there are other tangible results: over the past ten years, Moscow’s investments in government obligations of the United States have decreased 30 times.
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov noted that Russia needs to reduce the role of the dollar in any operations, eliminating “dependence on this poisonous source of constant hostile actions.”
