Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 27
By Farhad Daneshvar – Trend:
Iranian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Masoud Karbasian has called for using national currencies in bilateral trade with Azerbaijan.
In an interview with Trend on Friday, the Iranian minister termed the expansion of banking cooperation as a means to pave the way for widening of economic and industrial ties between the two countries.
He said the sides are discussing the possibilities of forming an independent bank in order to facilitate financial ties between the two countries as well as using national currencies in bilateral trade.
Karbasian, heading a high ranking economic delegation, arrived in Baku on Oct. 26 on a two-day visit to discuss bilateral economic ties.
Speaking about Iran’s earlier experience in using national currency in trade with Turkey and Russia, he said that the same method can be applied for such cooperation with Azerbaijan.
Earlier in September, central banks of Iran and Turkey inked an agreement on conducting bilateral trade using local currencies.
A senior official with Central Bank of Iran earlier told Trend that under the agreement, the Iranian and Turkish central banks will allocate a credit of five billion liras and its equivalent in rial to their respective agent banks. This amount will be used as letters of credit with a repayment period of one year for both countries' traders.