Bangladesh has recently approved payment of USD $318 million for payment to Russia in the Chinese currency of yuan for construction of the Rooppur nuclear power plant.  A meeting held recently between the Economic Relations Division and Russian officials decided that the payment will be made in yuan at a Chinese bank account, Uttam Kumar Karmkar, head of the European affairs of Economic Relations Division (ERD), Ministry of Finance confirmed  to UNB. He said that the decision was taken to use the Chinese currency yuan for debt repayment at a meeting of the ERD last Thursday. Read more: Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project delayed by Russia-Ukraine War: Yeafesh Osman He said that although the decision has been taken to use Chinese currency to repay the loan, the transaction has not yet been completed. Payment details need to be clarified and resolved. Citing the diplomatic sensitivity of the matter, he declined to comment further. Dhaka's decision seems to have resolved the problem of making any payment to sanctions-hit Russia in the US dollar.  Read more: Return of Russian vessel carrying consignment for Rooppur won’t delay project work: Minister Last year, Western countries excluded Russia from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, or SWIFT, one of the world's payment systems, due to its military invasion in Ukraine. The Rooppur nuclear power plant is being built in Bangladesh with a loan from Russia. But due to sanctions on Russia, it is not possible to pay in US dollars.  

China's yuan strengthened against a basket of currencies last week, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System (CFETS). The CFETS yuan exchange rate composite index, which measures the yuan's strength relative to a basket of currencies, edged up 0.21 points from the previous week to 105.08, according to the CFETS. Also Read: China to commit 1.5 bln yuan to initiate Kunming Biodiversity Fund: Xi The index compares the yuan with the value of 24 currencies, including the U.S. dollar, euro and Japanese yen. Last week also saw an index that measures the yuan against the Bank for International Settlements currency basket up 0.15 points from the previous week to 109.53. The index measuring the yuan against the Special Drawing Rights basket fell 0.02 points week on week to 102.95. Also Read: China's Single's Day sales hit 10 bln yuan in 96 seconds