Eurasian Economic Community May Introduce Single Currency by 2011

The countries in the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) may introduce a single currency by 2011. According to the RTR TV station, this proposal was put forward today in Moscow at the opening of the EurAsEC economic forum by Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbaev. He said that 'we need to introduce mutual convertibility of our currencies so that in six years' time the EurAsEC countries can introduce a single currency.' Nazarbaev also said that 'the system of payment whereby businessmen visiting a EurAsEC country pay each other in a foreign currency is a nonsense.' The Kazakh President remarked that in doing this people give part of their profits to 'an unknown destination.' He also stressed that further integration of EurAsEC is essential.

The Eurasian Economic Community consists of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan