Russia, India and South Africa Say BRICS Not Seeking to Weaken US Dollar: Report

Three BRICS countries are uniting in sending a message to President-elect Donald Trump about the economic bloc’s alleged de-dollarization efforts.

Last year, reports surfaced that BRICS is creating a common currency backed by gold and potentially additional precious metals and assets in an effort to circumvent USD.

But now, there’s an apparent reversal.

Russian diplomat Sergey Ryabkov says BRICS is willing to sit down with Trump to clarify that the group of economically aligned nations has no intention to undermine the US dollar’s status as the world’s reserve currency, reports state-owned agency TASS.

“We are ready to explain to Trump, or anyone else, that we are not encroaching on the dollar. We are drawing conclusions from the irresponsible and fundamentally flawed policy that Washington has pursued in this area under successive administrations, not excluding Mr. Trump’s first administration.”

Fellow BRICS nation India is also expressing the same sentiment. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar says it would be detrimental for India to join any effort that seeks to erode the dollar’s strength given that the US is its biggest trading partner.

“Where the BRICS remarks were concerned, we have said that India has never been for de-dollarization, right now there is no proposal to have a BRICS currency. The BRICS do discuss financial transactions… The US is our largest trade partner, we have no interest in weakening the dollar at all.”

And South Africa says reports about the development of a BRICS currency designed to dethrone the US dollar have been misinterpreted.

“Recent misreporting has led to the incorrect narrative that BRICS is planning to create a new currency. This is not the case. The discussions within BRICS focus on trading among member countries using their own national currencies.”

The statements issued by Russia, India and South Africa come after Trump issued an ultimatum against BRICS earlier this month, saying that the US will not sit idly while a group of nations come after the dollar.

“The idea that the BRICS Countries are trying to move away from the dollar while we stand by and watch is OVER. We require a commitment from these countries that they will neither create a new BRICS currency, nor back any other currency to replace the mighty US dollar or, they will face 100% tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful US economy.

They can go find another ‘sucker!’ There is no chance that the BRICS will replace the US dollar in international trade, and any country that tries should wave goodbye to America.”

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