Egypt on Russia’s shortened list of states whose banks can trade on its FX market: Reuters

CAIRO – 22 September 2023: Egypt and 32 other countries have appeared on a list shortened by Russia of countries whose banks can trade on its foreign exchange market, Reuters reported.

The Russian decision seeks to “improve the efficiency of the mechanism of direct conversion of national currencies of friendly and neutral countries,” Reuters quoted the Russian government as saying.

The decision also seeks to form direct quotations to the ruble in order to fulfill the Russian economy's demand for settlements in the national currency, the government added.

List of countries which Russia considers "friendly" or "neutral" and therefore, allowed them to remain on the list, include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Iran, Qatar, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Morocco, Algeria and China.

The approved list also includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Cuba, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Serbia, South Africa, Vietnam, Venezuela, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Thailand, India, Brazil and South Africa.

In September last year, Russian Ambassador to Egypt Georgy Borisenko said Moscow uses local currency settlement mechanism in trade exchange with Egypt.

He highlighted a mutual acceptance of payments ruble or the Egyptian pound in light of the western sanctions imposed against Russia, blocking its access to the dollar and euro over the conflict in Ukraine.