(Bloomberg) -- Iran’s central bank governor called for more financial cooperation with Russia while speaking at a conference in St. Petersburg organized by Russian monetary policymakers.

The Russian and Iranian financial systems must “work together,” Governor Mohammad-Reza Farzin said Thursday at the Bank of Russia’s Financial Congress. Russian central bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, who invited Farzin to the forum, listened from the front row during his talk.

Cooperation has been growing between the two countries’ central banks since the Kremlin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Last May, Nabiullina visited Tehran, wearing a headscarf during her meetings. Farzin also traveled to Moscow in December 2023, and was warmly welcomed by Nabiullina.

During his talk, Farzin spoke about his country’s struggle with high inflation and the effect it’s having on Iran’s economy. That mirrors similar efforts by Nabiullina to fight Russia’s own price growth, which is accelerating due to high levels of state spending on defense and social programs. 

In June, Russia’s central bank kept the key rate at 16% for the fourth time in a row, but an increase in borrowing costs is likely to come when policymakers meet this month. The central bank will discuss raising the key rate to 17-18% at that meeting, Deputy Governor Alexey Zabotkin said on the Rossiya 24 TV channel.

Farzin also proposed that the BRICS group of economies, which Iran joined this year, create an alternative payment system to the SWIFT financial-messaging service. Banks in both Tehran and Moscow have been cut off from Swift as part of broader sanctions imposed by the US and its allies. 

Farzin suggested the group, which counts Russia, China and India as founding members, could even create its own version of the Financial Action Task Force, a global watchdog created to combat money laundering. 

“The FATF behaves quite strangely,” Farzin said. “It would be possible to create an analogue within the framework of the BRICS to combat money laundering.”

Last year, the FATF suspended Russia’s membership in the group. Iran has been on the FATF’s highest risk “black list” since 2020. North Korea and Myanmar are the only other countries with that designation. 

The Bank of Russia didn’t immediately respond to a question about what agreements Farzin and Nabiullina plan to discuss during the Iranian official’s visit.

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