MOSCOW, May 13. /TASS/. The development of payments in national currencies is a prior area for BRICS member states, former Russian deputy finance minister, VEB.RF senior banker Sergey Storchak told TASS.

"BRICS member states follow the path of developing payments in national currencies. This area is currently prior for the integration. Considering the mounting interest of exporters and importers in using national currencies, central state banks of BRICS member states are actively addressing the issues related to increasing the number of users of national financial data transmission systems, including representatives of foreign jurisdictions," he said.

BRICS nations are facing the task of integrating existing systems with each other instead of creating a new one. "Consequently, integration of inhouse systems in particular may be behind the creation of an alternative to SWIFT," Storchak explained.

China, India and Russia have their own developed systems, he noted. "The work on establishing cooperation between entities and users of financial infrastructure is currently underway between those countries to make sure that international settlements and payments are accelerated and made cheaper on the basis of a more flexible financial information exchange," VEB.RF senior banker added.

Russia assumed the one-year rotating chairmanship of BRICS on January 1, 2024. On Moscow’s watch, BRICS will carry out over 200 events covering a wide range of issues. The key event of Russia’s chairmanship will be the BRICS summit in October 2024 in Kazan, Tatarstan, in Russia’s Volga region.