South Africa’s Finance Minister said on Thursday that the BRICS grouping would not be looking to replace international payment systems including SWIFT, but rather consider creating one that would strengthen trade in local currencies.

At the conclusion of a three-day BRICS summit in Johannesburg, the bloc’s leaders announced they would task their finance ministers to consider the issues of local currencies,payment instruments and platforms and report back in a year.

De-dollarisation is a particular priority for Russia, whose economy has been crippled by sanctions imposed by the West over its invasion of Ukraine and is banned from SWIFT.

Source: SABC News