Kasyanov proposes to introduce ruble in all EurAsEC countries

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has proposed to introduce the Russian ruble for payments in the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC), which includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Speaking to participants of the EurAsEC forum, he also called for speeding up the establishment of a single payment system in the community based on national currencies. Kasyanov stressed it was "time to start the integration in the currency field." This would require measures to stabilize exchange rates of currencies in EurAsEC and the levels of economic development of EurAsEC countries. The ultimate goal of the integration is the introduction of a single currency in EurAsEC, the Russian Prime Minister noted. Kasyanov stressed that, before the introduction of a single currency, EurAsEC had to go through all other stages of integration first, such as the establishment of a free trade zone, a customs union and the development of collaboration in the real economic sector, RBC reports.