JABAR EKSPRES – The use of the United States dollar in trade between BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) member countries has decreased, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
Speaking via video channel to delegates of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Tuesday (8/22), Putin said the goal and process of dedollarization by BRICS is already bearing fruit.
“Last year, the usage was only 28.7 percent,” Putin said.
“Incidentally, during this summit we should thoroughly discuss all aspects of switching to each other’s national currencies in all areas of economic cooperation between these five countries,” he said.
Read more: Japan Discharges Fukushima Radioactive Wastewater from August 24th
The Russian president said the BRICS New Development Bank, which is an alternative to Western-formed financial institutions, has an important role to play in the effort.
Putin, who is on an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes in Ukraine, could not attend the Johannesburg summit in person.
However, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa attended the summit.
BRICS is a group of emerging economies that account for a quarter of the global economy.
It also ranks fifth in global trade, and has 40 percent of the world’s total population.
“I would like to underline that the share of BRICS countries, with a total population of three billion, now accounts for almost 26 percent of global GDP,” Putin said.
Putin said the BRICS countries surpassed the G7 (Group of Seven and comprises the United States, Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Japan) in purchasing power parity, which by 2023 is expected to reach 31.5 percent against 30 percent.
Furthermore, the Russian president said that in the past decade mutual investments between BRICS countries have increased sixfold.
Cooperation between BRICS countries is based on the principles of equality, partnership, and respect for each other’s interests, Putin said.
