BRICS countries’ banks not yet offer sufficient set of instruments in national currencies - Economic Development Minister Likhachev

MOSCOW, July 6. /TASS/. The banks of the BRICS countries do not yet offer a sufficient set of business tools in national currencies, First Deputy Economic Development Minister Alexey Likhachev said in an interview with TASS. According to him, this limits the growth of volume of payments in national currencies within the BRICS. He noted that the payments in national currencies in small amounts already take place with all the BRICS countries, except South Africa. However, business does not use it very actively. "Payments in national currencies by itself will not bring in new quality for our trade. The new level of trade and economic relations occurs when entrepreneurs have an opportunity to make active use of the national currency in a wide range of banking tools," Likhachev said. According to him, there might be a possibility to take loans in the national currency, place balances on short-term deposits, and conduct a significant portion of other banking operations, without converting it constantly through the dollar. "But our banking system is not yet ready to offer a rich set of tools in the national currencies of the BRICS countries," Likhachev said. Moreover, entrepreneurs are afraid of exchange rate risk: while trade is mainly conducted in dollars, it is very risky to fix prices in national currencies for long-term contracts, he added. Likhachev noted that with the development of payments in national currencies the idea of creating an analogue to the SWIFT system for the BRICS countries will also become relevant. "The idea of creating an analogue is good, and sooner or later it may become reality. But it is critically dependent on how actively we are going to transfer to payments in national currencies", Likhachev said. Read more