Russia, currently chairing the BRICS group, has urged its partners to establish an alternative to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to counter political pressure from Western nations, ahead of the upcoming BRICS summit later this month.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, who is leading the meeting, argued that the global financial system is dominated by Western countries and that the BRICS group—which accounts for 37% of the global economy—should create a new alternative.
“The IMF and the World Bank are not fulfilling their intended roles. They are not acting in the interests of BRICS nations,” Siluanov remarked on the first day of the meeting.
He added, “We need to establish new conditions or even new institutions, akin to the Bretton Woods system, but aligned with the BRICS community.”
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, its foreign exchange reserves in dollars and euros have been frozen, and its financial system has been severely impacted by Western sanctions. The country has been cut off from international capital markets.
The Moscow meeting follows a similar format to the Group of 20, where summits are preceded by gatherings of top economic policymakers, who prepare proposals for leaders to discuss at the summit.
Siluanov also suggested the creation of a joint investment platform, built around the group’s New Development Bank, which remains BRICS’ only fully operational financial institution. He noted that the platform would rely on a new form of digital transactions, though he did not provide further details.
BRICS, which originally consisted of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, has since expanded to include South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. This week, senior BRICS finance and central bank officials are meeting in Moscow.
However, official documents revealed that many finance ministers and central bank governors from key BRICS nations did not attend the high-level meeting in Moscow, opting to send more junior officials instead. While finance ministers from Egypt, the UAE, and the head of Iran’s central bank were present, their counterparts from China, India, and South Africa were absent, sending deputies instead. This came a day after Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov accused the West of pressuring countries not to attend the BRICS summit.
Russia’s central bank governor, Elvira Nabiullina, has previously discussed plans for a BRICS Bridge payments system to link member countries’ financial systems, but progress has been slow. So far, the New Development Bank, established in 2015 to fund infrastructure and sustainable development projects, remains the group’s only significant financial institution.
Siluanov reiterated that creating a cross-border payment system is a key priority. Russia is also advocating for the establishment of a BRICS clearing center, a rating agency, a reinsurance company, and a commodities exchange.
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