BRICS leaders push faster, cheaper cross-border payments, deeper use of local currencies
New Delhi, India: BRICS leaders have called for practical solutions to make cross-border payments among member countries faster, cheaper, more accessible and safer, while backing greater interoperability between national payment and messaging systems as the grouping seeks to deepen economic cooperation.
The call was made in the New Delhi Declaration adopted at the 18th BRICS Summit, which encouraged the BRICS Payment Task Force (BPTF) to continue work on cross-border payment mechanisms, building on the BRICS Cross-Border Payments Initiative outlined in earlier Kazan and Rio declarations.
The declaration said the task force has been studying the cross-border interoperability of payment and messaging channels and discussions on promoting trade settlements and investments using BRICS local currencies. It also stressed that national priorities would be respected and there would be no “one-size-fits-all approach”.
“We encourage the BPTF to continue discussions, building on the ongoing work, to facilitate practical solutions for cross-border payments among BRICS countries, which are fast, low-cost, more accessible, efficient, transparent, and safe,” the leaders said.
The push comes against the backdrop of calls from BRICS leaders for greater use of national currencies in trade. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, speaking at the BRICS Business Forum in New Delhi, called for reducing dependence on dominant currencies and developing mechanisms to manage currency risks and reciprocal settlements. “One of the most important steps is to expand the use of national currencies in trade among the members,” Pezeshkian said, adding that such a move should be accompanied by instruments to manage currency risks.
He also called for a larger role for the New Development Bank in financing infrastructure and energy projects through local-currency financing and guarantees to attract private capital. Pezeshkian proposed a BRICS joint reinsurance company with initial capital of USD 10 billion to cover risks linked to major infrastructure and energy projects.
The New Delhi Declaration further outlined wider measures to strengthen intra-BRICS trade and investment. It supported efforts to build more resilient and predictable global value chains, digitise trade documentation and improve connectivity and trade facilitation. For smaller businesses, BRICS leaders welcomed guiding principles for credit assessment of export-oriented MSMEs and the Jaipur Consensus to study an invoice discounting mechanism that could help businesses unlock working capital and participate more actively in international trade.
The declaration also welcomed continued technical work on a New Investment Platform, discussions on settlement and depositary infrastructure, and measures to strengthen BRICS insurance and reinsurance capacity. Together, these measures point to a broader effort to build financial and trade infrastructure that can support deeper economic integration among BRICS members, while allowing countries to pursue cooperation according to their own national priorities. (ANI)