‘Brics trade focus only on national currencies’
NEW DELHI : Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Monday downplayed the possibility of Brics countries developing a common currency. Briefing the media, Kwatra said deliberations among Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have been focused on boosting trade in national currencies instead of on developing a common currency.
“The substantive part of trade and economic exchanges and discussions that have been a part of Brics discussions, have so far, in a major way, focused on how to increase trade in respective national currencies which… is considerably different from a common currency concept," said Kwatra. “You would know that common currency discussions have several prerequisites before you can even talk about a common currency framework.
The discussion framework in Brics and the substance of that discussion framework in Brics have focussed principally on trade within national currencies," he added. Brazil’s President Lula da Silva and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have voiced support for the idea of a common currency among Brics nations.
“I am in favour of creating, within the Brics, a trading currency between our countries, just like the Europeans created the euro," said Lula during a speech in April. “Serious, self-respecting countries are well aware of what is at stake, see the incompetence of the ‘masters’ of the current international monetary and financial system, and want to create their own mechanisms to ensure sustainable development, which will be protected from outside dictates," Lavrov was quoted as saying by numerous news outlets in January.
He went on to talk about the creation of a currency within the framework of Brics. However, India has been cautious in public on this matter.
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