Belarus increasing foreign trade settlements in yuan - PM

MINSK. March 30 (Interfax) - Belarus is increasing the share of foreign trade settlements it makes in yuan in connection with Western sanctions, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko said.

"We settle obligations with partners in Russia in Russian rubles, and in various currencies in Western Europe and countries of Asia and Africa. These are dollars and euros and Chinese yuan. Trade in yuan is gaining steam, it's just that not everyone has warmed up to it yet. But we have instances in which buyers actively settle obligations with yuan," Golovchenko was quoted as saying by the Belarusian state-run news agency BelTA.

"There are rough spots. Not all banks are ready to transmit such payments [in yuan], but our financial system and banking institutions are for that, to organize work in this direction," he said.

On the whole, "local currencies are going to play an increasing role in international settlements" in Belarus's foreign trade amid Western sanctions, Golovchenko said.