There are no obstacles for developing countries to switch to trade in national currencies, the president of BRICS’ New Development Bank (NDB), Dilma Rousseff, said on Wednesday.
‘’There are no obstacles for the countries of the developing world to carry out their foreign trade operations in national currencies,’’ Rousseff said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in St.Petersburg ahead of the second Russia-Africa Summit, opening on Thursday.
The NDB is an international financial institution established in 2014 following the BRICS summit after an agreement between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It aims to mobilise resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS countries, as well as other emerging markets and developing countries, through the provision of loans, guarantees and other financial instruments as part of state and private projects.
Members of the BRICS group do not cooperate against third parties, and this concerns financial issues as well, Russian President Putin said during the meeting with Rousseff.
Putin added that settlements in national currencies among BRICS countries were on the rise, and the development bank could play a key role in this issue.
‘’We know that there is a question about the liquidity of the bank. There are some ideas. Relations between our BRICS countries are developing, including (when it comes to) national currencies. Settlements are increasing. It seems to me that the bank could also play a role in developing the direction of joint work,’’ Putin said.
BRICS unites the world's largest emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. A number of other countries intend to join the economic bloc, including Algeria, Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. South Africa, which assumed the rotating BRICS presidency in January, will host the 15th BRICS summit from August 22-24.
SPUTNIK