BRICS members are exploring new ways to make cross-border trade faster and less expensive while reducing dependence on the US dollar, with national-currency settlements, interconnected instant-payment networks and central bank digital currencies among the options under consideration ahead of the bloc’s summit in New Delhi.
According to TASS, citing an Indian government source, discussions are focused on practical mechanisms that could lower transaction costs and encourage greater investment between BRICS economies. The proposals would operate alongside existing international payment infrastructure rather than replacing it, with the source stressing that the initiative is “not aimed against any specific country or group of countries.”
The strategy represents an alternative to establishing a single BRICS currency. Instead, companies and financial institutions could conduct more transactions directly in their respective national currencies, potentially avoiding the additional costs and intermediaries associated with dollar-denominated settlements and correspondent banking.
Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal has previously indicated that New Delhi prefers expanding national-currency trade rather than creating a common BRICS currency.
The Reserve Bank of India has also been promoting greater integration between the payment infrastructure of member countries. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra said last month that linking fast-payment networks and central bank digital currencies was being examined as a way of improving cross-border transactions.
“Cross-border payments is an area of interest for all of us, including the BRICS, because we feel there is a lot of scope for reducing cost,” Malhotra said.
Several BRICS countries already operate major domestic or cross-border payment networks. India has its Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and RuPay system, China operates the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), Russia has the SPFS financial messaging network and Mir card system, while Brazil operates the Pix instant-payment platform.
Another initiative, BRICS Pay, backed by the BRICS Business Council, has examined ways of connecting payment channels between member economies without constructing an entirely separate financial architecture.
For India, greater use of national currencies also supports efforts to expand the rupee’s international role. The RBI has established local-currency trade arrangements with countries including the UAE, Mauritius, the Maldives and Indonesia, although Malhotra has acknowledged that transaction volumes remain modest.
Discussions ahead of the BRICS summit are therefore expected to concentrate on connecting existing financial infrastructure, increasing direct national-currency settlements and reducing the cost of moving money between member states, rather than pursuing the more ambitious proposal of establishing a single BRICS currency.
