The Bangladesh government recently approved a $318 million Russian loan repayment in the Chinese currency of yuan.
The loan is related to the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant being constructed under Russian financial and technical assistance.
A high official at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) dealing with European affairs confirmed it.
He said that the decision to use the Chinese currency yuan for debt repayment was taken at a meeting of the ERD on Thursday last week.
He said that although the decision was taken to use Chinese currency to repay the loan, the transaction had 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.
The Rooppur Nuclear Power plant is being built in Bangladesh with a loan from Russia. But the sanctions on Russia made Bangladesh unable to make repayments in US dollars.
