India will press BRICS leaders to link their central bank digital currencies at this weekend’s summit in New Delhi, an effort aimed at speeding up cross-border payments rather than creating a shared BRICS currency, two sources familiar with the discussions told Reuters.
The Reserve Bank of India floated the idea of connecting BRICS members’ central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in January, and it’s now set for the agenda when leaders meet September 12-13 in New Delhi, where India holds this year’s BRICS chairship. The bloc has grown to 11 members: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
“India has no interest in replacing the dollar, and linking official digital currencies is aimed at making cross-border payments easier and faster,” one of the sources said.
The idea faces real obstacles. Few countries have widely adopted CBDCs, diplomatic relations between Iran and the UAE remain strained, and India itself is wary of deepening financial connectivity with China over national security concerns. Earlier BRICS payment-system proposals have stalled before, and any working link would first need currency-swap arrangements to manage imbalances between members. The push builds on a declaration from last year’s Rio summit calling for more interoperable payment systems across the bloc.
Source: Reuters, via CNBC Africa.
