Brics keeps de-dollarisation push alive despite no common currency plan: analysts
Analysts say lack of movement towards a common currency reflects a more pragmatic approach to reducing reliance on US dollar
With the 11-nation Brics grouping pledging to boost cross-border payment links but making no move towards establishing a common currency, analysts said the vow marked a shift towards a more pragmatic de-dollarisation strategy rather than a retreat from the effort.
A 45-page leaders’ declaration issued on Saturday at the Brics summit in New Delhi said the group’s Payment Task Force would continue working to facilitate “fast, low-cost, more accessible, efficient, transparent and safe” cross-border payments among Brics countries.
However, Sudhakar Dalela, secretary of India’s Ministry of External Affairs, told a news briefing on Saturday there was “no proposal in the Brics for a Brics currency, as of now”.
Matteo Giovannini, a non-resident associate fellow at the Beijing-based Centre for China and Globalisation, said it was “less a retreat from de-dollarisation than a shift in its strategy, from trying to create a common Brics currency towards building the infrastructure that allows Brics members to reduce their reliance on the dollar in practical terms”.