KAZAN, October 23. /TASS/. BRICS countries should focus on creating a single financial system for the association instead of replacing national currencies, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said at a closed-door meeting of the association's leaders.

"We need to create alternative monetary relations between the participants. We are not talking about replacing national currencies - we need to create a financial system. This issue needs to be seriously discussed," he said.

In turn, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi also noted that Egypt attaches great importance to the transition to financial settlements in national currencies within the BRICS group and joint projects with other member countries in a number of industries.