The Bank of Russia’s Financial Markets Risk Review reveals a remarkable shift in how export settlements are priced and settled, highlighted by Yuan’s expanding role. Over the year, Yuan’s contribution to export calculations grew from a mere 0.5% to 16%, marking a sixty-fourfold increase in the currency’s participation. This pivot signals a broader trend within Russia’s international trade finance, where state-sanctioned risk assessments show a deliberate movement away from traditional dollars and euros toward non-dollar instruments. The data and narrative come from the Financial Markets Risk Review, as reported internally by the central bank’s risk analytics team.
Analyses from the same report show a significant reduction in the share of so-called toxic currencies within the monetary structure used for foreign economic activity. This decline indicates a liberalization of currency composition in settlements and a growing resilience against external financial shocks, aided by a deliberate diversification strategy. The report stresses that, beyond the Russian ruble, the yuan has emerged as a viable settlement currency, with other currencies from supportive partner nations remaining comparatively rare in routine transactions.
At the start of the observed period, export deals were primarily conducted in dollars and euros. Currencies from countries later identified as hostile accounted for about 87% of settlements, while the yuan and the ruble each held a marginal stake of 0.5%. This snapshot underscores the initial reliance on well-established reserve currencies and a cautious approach to diversification in foreign trade finance. The 2022 year-end assessment, however, shows a different picture: toxic currencies now constitute about 48% of the settlement mix, the ruble represents around 34%, the yuan reaches 16%, and other friendly currencies collectively make up roughly 2% of the transactions, signaling a meaningful reweighting of currency risk in Russia’s external transactions.
Further context from industry reporting indicates that in early 2023, the yuan began to surpass the U.S. dollar in certain trade channels and achieved the status of the most traded currency within specific Russian markets, reflecting a shifting preference among counterparties in line with broader geopolitical and economic realignments. These observations align with ongoing analyses of currency flows and highlight the evolving architecture of Russia’s external settlement landscape, as noted by market observers and corroborated by risk evaluation teams within financial institutions. The implications point toward a more yuan-inclusive framework for cross-border trade and reserve management, consistent with a trend toward greater currency diversification in the region’s financial systems. [Source: Financial Markets Risk Review, Bank of Russia, and contemporaneous industry reports]