BRICS Treads Carefully on De-Dollarisation: Main Focus on Payments, Not a Common Currency
The bloc urged interoperable payment systems and local-currency settlement, while asking the New Development Bank to expand local-currency financing.
- At the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2026, member nations issued a joint statement focusing on expanding local-currency financing and interoperable payment systems, stopping short of challenging the U.S. dollar's global dominance.
- The joint statement adopts an incremental, technocratic strategy prioritizing voluntary cooperation and interoperable messaging channels, emphasizing there is "no one-size-fits-all approach" to reducing dollar dependence rather than pursuing radical financial reform.
- While the formal statement remained measured, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian pushed for stronger de-dollarization at Friday's Business Forum, citing vulnerability to political shocks and Western sanctions as reasons to reduce dollar reliance.
- Finance ministers and central bank governors backed the New Development Bank's efforts to expand local-currency financing while tasking the BRICS Payment Task Force with exploring "pragmatic solutions" for efficient, secure cross-border payment mechanisms.
- Despite this push, replacing the dollar remains difficult due to its deep liquidity and central role in commodity pricing, alongside structural obstacles like varying currency convertibility and unbalanced trade among member nations.
12 Articles
12 Articles
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New Delhi is hosting the loudest kind of diplomatic theatre this weekend — eleven flags outside Bharat Mandapam, a group photograph of heads of state, a New Delhi Declaration still being negotiated line by line between Iranian and Emirati officials. But the part of this summit likely to matter most in five years happened away from the cameras. On September 10, The Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) of the BRICS nations collecti…
BRICS Summit 2026 treads carefully on de-dollarisation: Finance track talks payments, not a common currency
BRICS nations 2026 push for local-currency trade and interoperable payments to reduce dollar dependence, but stop short of proposing a common currency. Iran and Russia push for alternatives amid Western sanctions, while India highlights UPI for cross-border settlements.
BRICS treads carefully on de-dollarisation: Finance track talks payments, not a common currency
Statements made by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the BRICS Business Forumshow why the issue of de-dollarisation remains central to the BRICS debate
BRICS treads carefully on de-dollarisation: Main focus on payments, not a common currency
There is no mention of a common BRICS currency or a formal call for replacement of the US dollar. Instead, the document sticks to the more incremental, technocratic language the bloc has used since Rio and Kazan: interoperable payment systems, local-currency settlement, and voluntary cooperation among members who "respect national priorities."
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