BRICS influences G20 agenda, prompting reforms of global financial systems — expert

Business & Economy August 25, 2023, 20:41

Alexander Shokhin noted that, in his opinion, the future payment and settlement system will most likely be based on digital currencies of national banks, stablecoins and blockchain

NEW DELHI, August 25. /TASS/. The summit of BRICS that ended on Thursday in Johannesburg, influences the agenda of the upcoming G20 summit in September, encouraging the G20 to reform global financial systems. Alexander Shokhin, president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs told a TASS correspondent on the sidelines of the Business 20 (B20) summit that opened in New Delhi.

"What do we expect from this meeting? The BRICS and G20 summits are almost back to back. It is important for us to use the BRICS business forums and the BRICS Business Council to influence the B20 agenda, and through it, the final recommendations of the G20. And we see that this is happening step by step. In particular, we are talking about the fate and reform of global financial systems and payment and settlement relations," Shokhin said.

He added that the BRICS association has not yet come to a final decision on how the payment and settlement system can be built without the dollar, now they are considering mutual trade in national currencies.

"It seems to me that this is only an intermediate step. But this step affects the agenda of G20, the talk about reforming global payment systems will obviously be discussed at the G20 summit, which will be held here in New Delhi in September," he added.

Shokhin noted that, in his opinion, the future payment and settlement system will most likely be based on digital currencies of national banks, stablecoins and blockchain. "An important feature of such a payment and settlement system is that it will not replace the dollar, but will provide an alternative when countries will be able to choose themselves which system to use without being tied to one of them," the source said.

"We, as the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, participate in the Business 20. Let me remind you that the B20 is the main "interaction group" within the G20, since the association of 20 leading states was created precisely to solve global economic issues. The G20 is not a political club, but an association created to solve global socio-economic problems. We are striving for the B20 to become a mechanism for developing solutions that simplify access to financial resources and allow us to solve other problems," Shokhin added.

Among these tasks are the achievement of sustainable development goals until 2030, solving the problem of climate change, the social responsibility of business, the issue of employment, training, and mobility of personnel, he stressed.

The Business Twenty (B20) is an association of a number of business associations and companies from the G20 countries, which develops international business proposals for the leaders of the G20 countries.

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