Bangladesh to repay Russia USD 318 million for Rooppur Nuclear Power plant in Chinese Yuan

Sakshi Education

Bangladesh has decided to pay a part of its loan to Russia taken for building the Rooppur Nuclear Power plant using the Chinese yuan, reports the official Chinese media outlet Global Times. Calling it a ‘de-dollarisation’ wave, the Global Times reports that the Bangladesh Finance Ministry’s Economic Relations Division (ERD) approved the payment of USD 318 million to Russia using Yuan.
The decision has been made to make the payment in yuan but the transaction is yet to be completed because payment details are yet to be worked out, Head of the European Affairs Wing of Bangladesh Finance Ministry Uttam Kumar Karmaker told the Washington Post.
The Russian contractor in charge of building the Rooppur nuclear power plant also confirmed the plan to use yuan for the loan repayment on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said the Washington Post.
Bangladesh will pay the amount from its Yuan reserves and Russia will receive the payment through China’s Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), which China is working to develop as an alternative to the dollar-denominated Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) system.
Bangladesh faced a deadlock in repaying part of the US 12 billion loan given by Russia for building the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) after US sanctions on Russia stopped it from using SWIFT network which is the international gateway for financial transactions in dollars.

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