Currency idea could boost trade
25/03/2009
Leather-sector traders in Turkey and Russia have agreed to carry out a trial in which they will use ther own currencies to do deals rather than the US dollar.
Reports from Turkey suggest that fluctuations in the value of the dollar over the last two years have caused serious problems for traders, so officials representing both countries have agreed to try out trade in the rouble and the lira for a number of product sectors, including leather.
Russia has been an extremely important market for Turkish tanners and manufacturers of leather garments and other leathergoods for the last
15 years, with trade continuing even at the time of the 1998 economic crisis in Russia and the 2001 crisis in Turkey.
Both sides hope that removing the unpredictability of the value of the dollar from the equation will make an increase in trading levels possible. At the moment, leather garment exports from Turkey to Russia are worth more than $1.5 billion a year. Commentators believe the new system could increase this by 50%.
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