The ‘Johannesburg II Declaration’ issued at the conclusion of the 15th BRICS Summit marks a huge step towards de-dollarisation of the global economy, a former Indian Prime Ministerial advisor has told Sputnik India.
“The bosses lording over the West-dominated financial architecture through the hegemony of the US dollar are deeply worried by BRICS solidarity,” remarked Sudheendra Kulkarni, who served as an advisor to former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
He noted that the BRICS nations comprise 41 percent of the global population, over 31 percent of the global GDP and 41 percent of the world population.
The grouping comprises two of the world’s fastest growing major economies and the biggest market places—China and India.
With the inclusion of Saudi Arabia as a new member on Thursday (along with Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the UAE), the BRICS now entails within its fold two of the world’s top three energy producers—Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Саммит БРИКС в ЮАР
© AFP 2023 Marco Longari
The BRICS joint statement calling for the use of national currencies comes against the backdrop of growing trend of de-dollarization, spurred further by economic disruptions caused by western sanctions against Russia.
China, India and Russia—the biggest of the BRICS economies—have already taken active policy initiatives to move away from the US dollar and encourage the use of national currencies in trade settlements.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that almost 80 percent of trade between Moscow and Beijing (which hit a record high of $180 billion last year) was settled in national currencies.
New Delhi, the world’s third-biggest energy importer, announced this month that it has settled payment of an oil cargo imported from the UAE in Indian Rupee (INR).
The IMF has said that the share of “US dollar reserves held by central banks fell to 59 percent—its lowest level in 25 years—in the fourth quarter of 2020. According to a report, the dollar reserves the world over fell further by eight percent in 2022.
Screaming dollar
© Photo : taken from social media
BRICS Leaders Mean Business, Kulkarni Says
Kulkarni said that the push towards expanding the use of national currencies show that BRICS leaders mean business”.
He noted that the BRICS Joint Statement stressed on “the importance of encouraging the use of local currencies in international trade and financial transactions between BRICS as well as their trading partners..”
“Secondly, it has encouraged strengthening of correspondent banking networks between the BRICS countries and enabling settlements in the local currencies,” the ex-PM aide said.
He underlined that the most important bit of the joint statement was the proposed practical steps that the five governments have vowed to take to advance the trading in national currencies.
“They have tasked our Finance Ministers or Central Bank Governors to consider the issue of local currencies, payment instruments and platforms and report back by the next Summit in Russia,” Kulkarni highlighted