"We would like to increase the number of operations in national currencies to strengthen the markets of the New Development Bank's member states," she said at a plenary session of the Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg, adding that such an increase is one of the bank's main priorities.
Developing countries are currently the most vulnerable to unilateral protectionist policies, Rousseff said.
"The use of sanctions for political purposes or attempts to extend the jurisdiction of a country outside its territory does not solve a single problem, but rather exacerbates the existing ones," the bank president said.
BRICS unites the world's largest developing economies — 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, the United Arab Emirates and others. South Africa, which assumed the rotating BRICS presidency in January, will host the 15th BRICS summit from August 22-24.
The second Russia-Africa Summit and Economic and Humanitarian Forum is taking place in the Russian city of St. Petersburg from July 27-28. The summit participants are expected to sign a number of international and bilateral documents. Sputnik is the official media partner of the forum.