Pakistan has abandoned the United States Dollar in order to pay for its most recent crude import from Russia with Chinese Yuan.
Pakistan takes a step toward de-dollarization by concluding its first government-to-government import of Russian oil in the Yuan. This agreement was reached between Islamabad and Moscow, and the first shipment arrived in Karachi on Sunday and is still being unloaded.
Minister of Petroleum Musadik Malik disclosed this information to Reuters via telephone. According to the minister, a total of 100,000 tones of oil are involved in the transaction, but only 45,000 tones have been delivered to Karachi, with the remainder en route.
He did not disclose the discount Pakistan received from Russia or the commercial aspects of the transaction. Nonetheless, he indicated that Pakistan’s oil imports are a wise investment. Malik declared:
“We’ve run iterations of various product mixes, and in no scenario will the refining of this crude make a loss,” Malik announced. “We are very sure it will be commercially viable.”
BRICS Nations Will Abandon US Dollar
Notably, the change in currency notes represents a concerted effort to undermine the dollar’s hegemony in international trade. Moreover, it is a watershed moment for the BRICS founding nations, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, which have been pressing for de-dollarization among themselves.
Many BRICS members and non-members have joined the fight against the dominance of the U.S. dollar. In April, Indonesia hinted at intentions to substitute an alternative currency for the dollar. At the time, Indonesia contemplated introducing the Rupiah for cross-border transactions, at least with Asian nations.
A few weeks later, Brazil’s president Luiz Lula da Silva, proposed substituting another currency for the dollar. In addition to using their national currencies, some of these countries are contemplating Bitcoin (BTC) as a safer alternative to the U.S. dollar, particularly now that the cryptocurrency’s price has recovered from the bear market of 2017 to a reasonable degree.
Max Keiser, the advisor to El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, is confident that de-dollarization will occur rapidly if the BTC alternative is adopted.
