Jaipur: BRICS, the coalition of major emerging and developing economies, is on the verge of launching its own cross-border payment system known as BRICS Pay. This initiative is part of a broader effort to reduce reliance on the US dollar for international trade and financial transactions.

According to Deutsche Welle, BRICS finance ministers and central bank officials convened in Jaipur, India, in August to advance the BRICS Pay project, which is expected to become partly operational by September. The primary aim of BRICS Pay is to establish a payment system that connects national payment networks, allowing for transactions between BRICS nations without the US dollar as an intermediary.

Currently, international payments, such as those between Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, typically pass through the Belgium-based SWIFT organization. While SWIFT is widely used by over 11,000 financial institutions across the globe, it has been criticized for its potential use as a geopolitical tool. In times of conflict, countries can be cut off from SWIFT, making it a point of leverage for Western sanctions.

BRICS Pay seeks to circumvent this by enabling direct trade between member countries, thereby reducing dependency on the dollar and insulating nations from geopolitical pressures associated with the existing financial networks. This strategic move indicates a significant shift in how emerging economies intend to conduct international trade in the future.