DATE:
06/10/2008
MINSK. Oct 6 (Interfax) - There should be further monetary integration on the part of Russia and Belarus, including by making more extensive use of the Russian ruble in mutual payments, said Russian President Vladimir Putin, and the single Russian-Belarusian currency proposal remains on the agenda in order to be put into practice at some point in the future, he added.
"Setting up a monetary pool" would be one way of advancing Russian-Belarusian "monetary integration," Putin said in the course of talks with Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky.
Russia and Belarus are cooperating on a large scale, including in the energy industry, the Putin said.
"It is unclear why, in carrying out large-scale energy projects, we still pay each other in U.S. dollars, though we know very well what problems the American economy is coming up against today," he said.
A monetary pool would be an important measure for Russia as well as Belarus, Putin said. "We would have good reason to give some thought to what I have said. It is important for the Russian national currency, nor do we, after all, remove from the agenda the issue of introducing a single currency at some point in the future," he said.
Source:
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews+articleid_2684447.html
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