BRICS Dropping US Dollar, Working on New Reserve Currency: Brazil’s Lula

The BRICS bloc will dump the U.S. dollar in trade settlements and bolster the use of local currencies in bilateral trade.

From left: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, China's leader Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov raise their arms as they pose for a group photograph at the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg on Aug. 23, 2023. Photo by ALET PRETORIUS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

The BRICS economic alliance plans to abandon the U.S. dollar in trade settlements and develop a new reserve currency while promoting the use of local currencies, Brazil’s president said at the bloc’s 15th annual summit in Johannesburg.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is championing a medium- to long-term objective of creating a new reserve currency to fight against the U.S. dollar hegemony. Until then, the coalition will encourage the further utilization of members’ national currencies in bilateral trade.