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BRICS working on project to create cross-border payment initiative — Lavrov

According to Russian Foreign Minister, "the mechanism of the Contingent Reserve Arrangement, including the use of currencies alternative to dollar, is being improved"

RIO DE JANEIRO, July 7. /TASS/. BRICS member countries are working on projects to develop independent settlement and depositary infrastructure and a cross-border payment initiative, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov revealed addressing the BRICS outreach session.

"As a follow-up to the agreements made at the BRICS summit in Kazan in 2024, we have been working on projects to create Cross-Border Payment Initiative, independent settlement and depositary infrastructure, to develop reinsurance capacity, to increase the effectiveness of special economic zones," he noted.

According to Lavrov, "the mechanism of the Contingent Reserve Arrangement, including the use of currencies alternative to dollar, is being improved."

The global community is getting increasingly interested in creating development mechanisms independent from the West, and "the Global South and East are becoming a main driving force of the global economic growth," he continued.

"Nowadays, BRICS stands as an engine of such transformation. BRICS countries account for more than 40% of the global gross domestic product based on purchasing power parity, and together with partner countries this figure is at 45% or $93 trillion," Russia’s top diplomat maintained. "Today, BRICS represents more than 20% of global trade and almost a half of world population," he stated.

The African Union, CELAC, ASEAN, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) have been playing an increasingly important role globally, Lavrov concluded.

Brazil is hosting the 17th BRICS summit. The agenda includes healthcare, trade, investment, finance, and climate change issues, as well as AI management, and the strengthening of peace and security.

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