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With Russia’s SWIFT ban, India looks for alternative payment methods

A Ukrainian serviceman stands near the wreck of a Russian tank on the front line in the Kyiv region, Ukraine March 28, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

Russia was cut off from the SWIFT payment system after it invaded Ukraine. This is like the equivalent of cutting someone off the internet. Sending a message, for example, isn’t impossible, but it does get significantly more difficult. So when the West first threatened to cut Russia off from SWIFT back in 2014 after it annexed Crimea, Russia quickly started developing its own payment system called SPFS, which uses similar technology to SWIFT.

Now it looks like that was a beneficial move for Russia because there is some talk about India offering to use this SPFS system for rupee-ruble payments as the South Asian nation continues buying its military equipment and oil from Russia.

Key comments:

More details are likely to be revealed next week, and Russia and India haven’t yet responded to the reports. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has plans to visit New Delhi on Thursday.

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