GENEVA, January 18. /TASS/. Brazil has asked its partners in BRICS to delay its presidency in the group that also includes Russia, India, China and South Africa from 2024 to 2025, Brazil’s Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said on Wednesday.

"We have put off our presidency in BRICS so that it doesn’t coincide with the G20," he told reporters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The minister said the purpose of the move is to "do quality work in both cases."

"We have asked to delay [the BRICS presidency] for one year," he said.

Speaking at a WEF session a day before, Haddad said the string of presidencies at major international groups - the Group of 20, BRICS and the Southern Common Market, known as MERCOSUR - heaps a lot of responsibility on Brazil.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva assumed office as Brazilian president on January 1. The socialist said his foreign policy priorities include plans to rekindle integration processes in Latin America, highlighted the role of BRICS and the G20 and touted international cooperation to counter climate change. The new president said Brazil’s main task for the next four years would be to restore trust and ensure predictability and stability to make the country more appealing to international investors.