BRICS needs alternative to the American currency, according to Brazilian economist Paulo Batista
The international monetary system based on the US dollar is becoming increasingly “dysfunctional,” prompting BRICS countries to consider creating their own currency, Brazil’s former representative at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Paulo Nogueira Batista Jr., has told RT.
According to Batista, even though the greenback will remain an important global legal tender, the currency can no longer be trusted.
Speaking ahead of the 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg, the Brazilian economist said that US-led financial institutions do not address the needs of developing countries. He pointed to “growing dissatisfaction” among emerging market economies with the way that existing dollar-based institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank work.
“We remain in the IMF, we remain in the World Bank, we are participating but we decided to create our own avenue as a development because the world is becoming increasingly multipolar and the Washington institutions do not respond to that,” Batista said, referring to the BRICS bank.
Officially known as the New Development Bank (NDB), the organization is a multilateral financial development institution established by the alliance of major emerging economies, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa in 2014.
The economist noted that the NDB was created by and for emerging economies without the participation of advanced countries, and claimed it is more “Global South-oriented than the World Bank can ever be.”
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