The addition of the United States dollar as a settlement currency on the SADC Integrated Regional Electronic Settlement System (SIRESS) cross-border payment system is on track to go live next month, according to the SADC Banking Association.
The project to implement the change was launched in September 2017. It quotes SWIFT Business Intelligence statistics as estimating that around 60% of intra-SADC cross-border transactions are denominated in US$, and 35% in South African rand and through correspondent banking arrangements with US banks.
The business model for the settlement of the US$ in SIRESS was approved by the SADC Payment System Oversight Committee in March 2018.
