Russia’s State Duma Deputy Chairman Alexander Babakov has confirmed that
the BRICS alliance is working on creating its currency.
BRICS is an acronym for five leading emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
Babakov made the comments at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum event in New Delhi, India.
Babakov said that the currency could benefit China, other BRICS members, and not the West, adding that the new currency would be secured by gold and other commodities such as rare-earth elements.
Economic powerhouses have been ramping up efforts to break the holds of the US dollar.
A BRICS currency has been in the works for a while. In 2019, reports emerged that members of the bloc were discussing the creation of a new digital currency for a unified payments system.
Earlier this week, China and Brazil reached a deal to trade in their currencies, a move meant to will remove the US dollar as the intermediary.
According to reports, the agreement will enable China and the biggest economy in Latin America, Brazil, to conduct their trade and financial transactions directly. Chinese yuan will be exchanged directly for the Brazilian real and vice versa.
