Belarus and Russia set up financial messaging in any currency for residents - NBB

MINSK. April 19 (Interfax) - Belarus and Russia have ensured an uninterrupted exchange of financial messages in any currency for their residents, said Pavel Kallaur, Chairman of the Board of the National Bank of Belarus (NBB).

"Thanks to the integration of the national financial information transmission systems of the National Bank of Belarus and the Bank of Russia, an uninterrupted exchange of financial messages in any currency between residents of the two countries has been ensured," the head of the NBB said on Wednesday during a joint meeting of the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic, as quoted by BelTA state media.

"In addition, the government and the National Bank adopted a number of decisions to resolve problematic issues in the implementation of export-import operations, including settlements in foreign trade for cash foreign currency," Kallaur added.

To date, all 24 Belarusian banks have been connected to the Financial Message Transmission System of Russia's Central Bank. As of March 2022, the system is being used by Belarusian banks due to the decision from the European Union to disconnect them from SWIFT (Development Bank, Belagrombank, and Dabrabyt Bank).