Minister also said that once these mechanisms are launched, other members can join them
Guilherme Botacini
RIO DE JANEIRO, RJ (Folhapress) – Russia will continue to insist on the discussion about alternative payment systems to the dollar in the BRICS despite the resistance of other group members, according to the country’s finance minister, Anton Siluanov.
“So far the BRICS members have not completely agreed, but it is a discussion in progress, and we will pursue this path with those interested in this,” said the minister, who is in Rio de Janeiro for the group’s summit.
“We have seen that we do not need a complete consensus when seeking this or that financial decision. Establish bridges between deposit systems or acquire financial instruments in a bilateral or trilateral format, this is something that can be done from a broader consensus,” said Siluanov.
The minister also said that once these mechanisms are launched, other members can join them. “It’s a work ongoing. In some questions we move faster, in others, slower, but there is progress,” he said.
Russia and former President Dilma Rousseff, ahead of the New Development Bank (NDB) as Moscow nominated for the BRICS Bank, are the main advocates of what they call the NDB “investment platform,” which strengthens local instruments and coins in international transactions to the detriment of the US dollar.
The group, however, has resisted the idea, including the Brazilian presidency of BRICS this year. India was one of the countries that opposed, saying in meetings that this would distort the mandate of Banco do Brics. The Brazilian government nor was it excited about the proposal and sees limitations for the use of local commerce currencies.
The groups of the group avoided committing to the creation of an alternative payment system, as shown by Folha de S.Paulo. In the Declaration of Finance Ministers, which gathered this Saturday in Rio, there was only a mild mention of advances in the discussion in search of solutions that facilitate international financial operations, at lower cost, and boost trade and investment flows between countries.
They say they recognize the progress made by the payment task force in identifying “possible ways to support the continuation of discussions about the potential of the most interoperability of BRICS payment systems” and cite a technical report that compiles existing systems today.
It is not clear what exactly the platform defended by Russia. But Putin and other leaders in the country have made statements on the subject in recent months, giving indications that it would involve use of digital assets such as bitcoins, creation of alternative payment systems and greater independence of the West.
“We propose to create a new BRICS investment platform using digital assets,” Putin said in Sochi, October last year. At Kazan’s summit, Putin stated that “it is important to build alternative, reliable and free multilateral financial mechanisms.”
Siluanov, the Finance Minister, went further, at the time: “We are defining the course for the future financial infrastructure of BRICS. BRICS countries need protection measures and alternative mechanisms. We plan to create payment and settlement solutions that will be acceptable for all participants within a year” – which has not realized so far.
The idea of creating alternative local currency payment and trade systems is seen by the United States and the European Union as Russian attempts to escape the financial sanctions it has faced since it invaded Ukraine in 2022 and its exclusion from the Swift system of international financial information and transactions.
Shortly after taking over, in January this year, President Donald Trump warned that there would be retaliation if Brics members tried to replace the US dollar as a reserve currency.
“We will require a commitment of these seemingly hostile countries that they will not create a new BRICS currency, nor will you support any other currency to replace the powerful US dollar or face 100%tariffs,” said Trump.
