Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro is delighted to state that the country does not run banking with the SWIFT interbank payments system, and the world's main international financial network is likely to take a back seat.
According to Maduro, the country will move to a fully digital economy thanks to the virtual bolivar. “We are moving this year to a more profound digital economy, in expansion. I’ve set the goal of an economy that’s 100% digital,” he said, stressing that Venezuela does not depend on SWIFT. Besides, the head of Venezuela added that by the end of the current decade, the world would "free itself" from this financial system and finally progress with its own effort, technology, and monetary policy.
However, this is already happening. After the European Union decided to tighten sanctions by disconnecting some Russian banks from the SWIFT system, the country's government offered these banks alternative solutions to the problem. Thus, banking institutions can use the System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), a Russian SWIFT analogue, for in-country transfers and other platforms for overseas transfers. True, the SPFS network has about 340 users, including only 39 foreign participants from 9 countries, the central bank noted.
