Johannesburg, Aug 23 (FN Bureau) South Africa’s BRICS sherpa told Sputnik on the sidelines of the bloc’s summit in Johannesburg that the five emerging economies would focus on bolstering trade in their local currencies to gain greater independence from the dollar, rather than launching a common currency. “The currency is being discussed but let me correct: It’s not about a BRICS currency. It is too early to talk about a BRICS currency,” Anil Sooklal said. “What we are talking about is creating more financial inclusion in terms of global financial transactions, global financial trade and how we conduct our payment,” he added. Brazil, India, Russia, China and South Africa will discuss “deepening interaction among ourselves using local currencies,” the ambassador-at-large said.
He insisted that the five, as well as the Global South, needed to be able to borrow and make payment settlements in their own currencies, instead of being dependent on the dollar and the euro and losing money to currency conversion. “We have started a momentum in terms of the global financial architecture where countries — not just BRICS but from the Global South, Africa included, — are saying that we need to trade and do business in our local currencies,” the envoy explained. African central banks have already begun implementing a pan-African payment system to facilitate trade using local currencies, Sooklal said. African nations expect it to save them an equivalent of $5 billion dollars annually in currency conversion costs. South Africa Deputy President Paul Mashatile told BRICS business leaders on Monday that increasing independence from the greenback would be high on the agenda at the bloc’s meeting on Tuesday, according to Bloomberg.