Hemmati traveled to Russia for talks with banking authorities and to find ways to bolster cooperation. The trip was a follow-up to President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Tehran for a trilateral summit of the Syrian ceasefire on September 7. During the one-day meeting the presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey discussed a possible replacement of the US dollar with national currencies after the three regional allies were hit by US sanctions.
The governor of the Central Bank of Iran discussed the practicalities of using the two countries’ national currencies in bilateral trade, using financial systems of the two sides, improving banking correspondent ties and financing construction and development projects.
Nabiullina welcomed the subjects proposed by Hemmati and expressed the hope that the two sides’ banking relations would develop in the form of a mutually-agreed roadmap, according to Financial Tribune.
According to the agreements, technical and specialized negotiations will be conducted by experts from both sides to achieve the desired results.
“Currently, 25% of exchanges between the two countries are carried out via national currencies, which is a small figure. We’re working to increase the amount and gradually abolish the dollar and other currencies in our trade,” Hemmati was quoted as saying by IRNA.
He added that Iran and Russia agreed in Tehran to increase bilateral trade and this would need support from the two sides’ banking systems.
Hemmati said his talks with Nabiullina were positive and a roadmap for the development of banking collaboration has been designed. According to the roadmap, correspondent relations between the sides will improve and meaningful measures will be taken to increase the role of national currencies in bilateral trade.
Two-way commercial exchanges are not impressive despit the fact that the two countries are important neighbors in the region, Hemmati recalled, and said economic relations need to be compatible with the cordial Moscow-Tehran political ties.