Japan Suggests Russia Use Yen Instead of US Dollar in Transactions

A Japanese Bank has suggested that Russian and Japanese financial institutions use yen instead of US dollars.

VLADIVOSTOK, September 4 (Sputnik) – Tokyo has suggested to Moscow that Russia use the Japanese national currency, the yen, in its transactions instead of the US dollar in order to minimize risks, Tadashi Maeda, the Senior Managing Director of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), said Friday.

"We have suggested that our Russian partners explore the possibility of using the Japanese yen as an extra currency," Maeda said during the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) currently being held in the Russian city of Vladivostok.

First Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Russia's Vnesheconombank, Andrey Sapelin, in turn, said that Russia is already looking at such an option.

Russia is considering conducting transactions in national currencies with India, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Indonesia, Vietnam, Iran and Egypt in order to boost mutual trade and reduce dependence on the dollar. Such an agreement has already been reached with China. The central banks of both countries struck a deal allowing bilateral trade in the ruble and the yuan, as well as in a freely convertible currency.