Key quotes:

Russia has accumulated billions of rupees that are sitting in Indian banks.

Reuters reported that Russia and India have suspended negotiations over using rupees for trade between the two countries.

Russia prefers to be paid in Chinese yuan, which has become the most-used foreign currency in Russia.

Russia and India remain deadlocked in a currency dispute that has also frozen weapons sales between the two countries.

India won’t pay Russia in US dollars over concerns that it may face secondary sanctions and won’t pay in rubles because of worries about obtaining Russia’s currency on global markets at a fair rate,

Recently, (Russia) agreed to use the (Chinese) yuan to for payments on a nuclear-power plant deal with Bangladesh, after previously insisting on using its ruble.

  • Hilarious that the country that not so long ago tried to force the west to pay them in Rubles now has to take Rupees as payment and has a “preferred” currency of Yuan. Russia is getting bent over so hard by India and China. It’s basically a vassal state to China now.

    • It’s basically a vassal state to China now

      This is really true. China had just released a new standard map (they do this every other year), and on the map it included Russian territories. Namely the islands of Bolshoy Ussuriysky, located in at the confluence of the Amur and the Ussuri, and right next to the major Russian city of Khabarovsk, has given it great strategic importance.

      The island was taken by the Russian in the 1860s, and China have been wanting it back ever since. The two countries had signed a agreement in 2004 which China takes the souther part of the island while Russian take the north. But now the Chinese map shows the whole area as Chinese and the Russians are not making a beep. Currently its just political move, but it ultimately might be a start where China seek to take back its lands while Russia is weakened.

  •  zabadoh   ( @zabadoh@lemmy.ml ) OP
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    10 months ago

    How indebted are the Russians to the Chinese now.

    They’re completely at the mercy of the Chinese government which tightly controls the Yuan

    They’re getting deeper into debt with Chinese banks, borrowing the equivalent of USD$10 billion as of last March, although the article doesn’t say what currency the loans are in. Likely USD$.

    To put that amount into perspective, Russia’s USD$ currency reserves were about $599 billion as of May 2023.

    The Chinese economy isn’t doing so hot either

    And tossing billions into the black hole that is Russia probably won’t help those banks stay financially stable.

    • The only currency I am aware of with the necessary backing, flexibility, durability, and faith is probably the Euro. I don’t know that any other currency can really gain the scope of adoption necessary to be the default reserve currency.

      • Instead of using the Euro. There should be a global reserve currency based on a basket of the world’s most important currencies. USD, EUR, Chinese yuan, Indian rupee etc.

        • There should. The problem is that even at a smaller scale only western Europe managed to pull it off (with the ECU). South American attempts imploded because of infighting, and African and East Asian attempts are progressing but slowly. And those are attempts by countries that already agreed to be part of the same regional organizations.

          The challenges the BRICS are seeing when it involves just 5 countries with a strong incentive to kick the dollar out, gives a glimpse of the mess it would be required to achieve something at a global level.

          Maybe it will be more realistic when there are more regional currencies around to provide a model on how to solve conflicts.