Asia, Africa, Latin America Have Growing Interest in New Forms Of Payment: APEC Envoy

Berdyev spoke after High-ranking officials and ministers held meetings in Seattle where they addressed food security and energy matters among other issuers as part of the third Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Senior Officials’ and Ministerial Meetings.

"There is a growing interest in new forms of payment in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. ASEAN is intensifying the dialogue on the use of national currencies, since last year there has been an agreement on digital border trading in local financial instruments," Berdyev said, adding: "In the EAEU, according to preliminary data, already more than 90% of transactions are carried out in the currencies of the member states of the Union, while the ruble is reasonably in the lead."

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Berdyev pointed out that APEC, like other specialized multilateral formats, does not remain aloof from the problems of global finance.

"These include, among other things, growing inflationary pressure, high levels of debt, a lack of resources to finance global development, market volatility, and a crisis in the banking sector of some developed countries," he said. "Under these conditions, the world economic system is going through a period of adaptation to new challenges and threats."

Berdyev went on to say that there can be seen a decline in the use of the US dollar, which is increasingly perceived as an unreliable asset. The countries of the world's majority are reducing the share of "toxic currencies," first of all, the US dollar and the euro, in their foreign trade and financial transactions, he said.

"This trend is caused by the sanctions 'voluntarism' of the collective West, which, with its unilateral and illegitimate restrictive measures, has undermined confidence in the American-centric financial system," he explained, adding: "There are also the consequences of the irresponsible financial policies of many developed countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, when they launched a printing press to cover the budget deficit, provoking 'bubbles' in the commodity markets, and then consumer inflation and a decline in living standards."

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Berdyev underscored that strengthening the role of national currencies is an objective process.

"Political reasons against the backdrop of the 'sanctions war' launched by the United States probably still prevail, but economic logic cannot be discounted either. Suffice it to recall the exorbitant debt accumulated by the Americans, the endless excesses around the budget deficit," he said.

According to statistics, he further elaborated, the share of the dollar in the total volume of international payments through SWIFT in January 2023 decreased to 41.7%. According to the IMF, its share in reserves reached its lowest level in 27 years at 58.36%.

"Settlements are increasingly dynamic in yuan (the weight of the Chinese currency in trade contracts from March 2021 to March 2023 increased from 1.9% to 4.5%), Indian rupees, currencies of Arab and other developing countries. The Russian ruble is becoming more and more popular and attractive, especially in the Eurasian space," he added.

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In response to sanctions, Russia has accelerated efforts to switch to national currencies in trade. In February and March, the yuan replaced the US dollar as the most traded currency in Russia.

In April, the International Monetary Fund said the US dollar has depreciated since October 2022 but remains stronger than it has been since 2000.

The same month, World Bank President David Malpass said that the US dollar’s dominance has been put into question by competitors such as blockchain technology and the Chinese yuan.