The BRICS group is planning to test out settlements between the member states in national currencies within the framework of the BRICS Pay payment system, said Valery Belyakov, Chairman of the Russian side at the Financial Services Working Group of the BRICS Business Council.
“In the coming year, an initiative scientific and practical group, whose members are part of the Financial Services Working Group, plans to conduct a series of experiments with payments in the national currencies of the BRICS countries within the framework of the BRICS Pay project with real supplies of goods," Belyakov said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Speaking at the international event, hosted by Russia's second-largest city from June 14 to 17, he further elaborated that the scientific group will also explore several concepts for creating a single BRICS currency for cross-border settlements under supply contracts.
According to Belyakov, the creation of the BRICS Pay system is aimed at enhancing the financial infrastructure, simplifying payment processes and reducing the dependence of the BRICS member countries on Western-dominated global financial institutions. He added that this payment system, among other things, will protect member countries from various forms of non-economic competition.
The BRICS economic bloc embarked on the creation of a single payment system, dubbed BRICS Pay, as part of an endeavor to build a common platform for retail payments and transfers among the member states. BRICS Pay is a joint venture between the five member states countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), launched in 2018 by the BRICS Business Council.