BRICS is not seeking to abandon the use of the US dollar in trade, since most of the financial reserves of the community members are stored in US currency. “Abandoning the dollar would not make sense, since the BRICS countries are large holders of dollar reserves. Our discussions in BRICS are aimed at facilitating transactions between the countries of the bloc,” said Eduardo Savoia, the secretary of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Asia-Pacific region, in an interview with the French radio station RFI.
The community arose at a time when it became necessary to restart the global economy after the 2008 financial crisis. According to Saboya, during its existence, the bloc has managed to achieve international recognition and authority. “Today we live in a different reality and with a different configuration of international relations. BRICS participates in the formation of the G20 agenda, in discussions within the UN this process will continue“, he concluded.
Earlier, the newly elected US President Donald Trump statedthat he would introduce 100% trade tariffs on goods from the BRICS countries if they create a new currency or abandon the dollar. After that, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar noted that the republic “has never been a supporter of de-dollarization“. Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, BRICS Sherpa Sergei Ryabkov also stressed that BRICS is ready to explain to Trump that the community is not encroaching on the dollar, but drawing conclusions from Washington's erroneous policy. Brazil became the chairman of BRICS on January 1. In 2024, the community was led by Russia; the key event during its chairmanship was the Kazan summit on October 22-24, where it was decided to create a category of BRICS partner countries. The bloc's first partners were Belarus, Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Malaysia, Thailand, Uganda and Uzbekistan. Indonesia was also initially listed as a BRICS partner, but on January 6, Brazilian authorities announced that the country had become a full member of the community.