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ALSO SEE:\u00a0Markets Rocked by Trump Tariff Threats to EU Over Greenland<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n India will host the summit, which will be held later this year. If the recommendation is accepted, a proposal to link the digital currencies of BRICS members would be put forward for the first time. The BRICS organisation includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, among others.<\/p>\n The initiative could irritate the US, which has warned against any moves to bypass the dollar. Donald Trump threatened just before he took office for his second term to impose 100% tariffs on any BRICS nation that tried to bypass the dollar<\/a>.<\/p>\n US President Donald Trump has previously described the BRICS alliance as \u201canti-American\u201d and he threatened to impose tariffs on its members.<\/p>\n The RBI, India\u2019s central government and the central banks of China, Brazil, and Russia did not respond to emails seeking comment. The South African central bank declined to comment.<\/p>\n The RBI\u2019s proposal to link BRICS\u2019 CBDCs for cross-border trade finance and tourism has not been previously reported.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Push for better cross-border payment systems<\/p>\n The RBI\u2019s proposal builds on a 2025 declaration at a BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, which pushed for interoperability between members\u2019 payment systems to make cross-border transactions more efficient.<\/p>\n The RBI has publicly expressed interest in linking India\u2019s digital rupee with other nations\u2019 CBDCs to expedite cross-border transactions and bolster its currency\u2019s global usage.<\/p>\n It has, however, said its efforts to promote the rupee\u2019s global use are not aimed at promoting de-dollarisation.<\/p>\n While none of the BRICS members have fully launched their digital currencies, all five main members have been running pilot projects.<\/p>\n India\u2019s digital currency \u2013 called the e-rupee<\/a> \u2013 has attracted a total of 7 million retail users since its launch in December 2022, while China has pledged to boost the international use of the digital yuan.<\/p>\n The RBI has encouraged the adoption of the e-rupee by enabling offline payments, providing programmability for government subsidy transfers and by allowing fintech firms to offer digital currency wallets.<\/p>\n For the BRICS digital currency linkages to be successful, elements like interoperable technology, governance rules and ways to settle imbalanced trade volumes would be among the discussion topics, one of the sources said.<\/p>\n The source cautioned that hesitation among members to adopt technological platforms from other countries could delay work on the proposal and concrete progress would require consensus on tech and regulation.<\/p>\n One idea being explored to manage potential trade imbalances is the use of bilateral foreign exchange swap arrangements between central banks, both sources said.<\/p>\n Previous attempts by Russia and India to conduct more trade in their local currencies hit roadblocks. Russia accumulated large balances of the Indian rupee for which it found limited use, prompting India\u2019s central bank to permit the investment of such balances in local bonds.<\/p>\n Weekly or monthly settlements for transactions are being proposed to be made via the swaps, the second source said.<\/p>\n Founded in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, BRICS later expanded to include South Africa and has since broadened further, adding newer members like the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Indonesia.<\/p>\n The bloc has returned to the limelight thanks to Trump\u2019s revived trade-war rhetoric and tariff threats, including warnings aimed at countries aligning with BRICS. At the same time, India has\u00a0edged closer\u00a0to Russia and China as it faced trade friction with the US.<\/p>\n Past efforts to turn BRICS into a major economic counterweight have run into hurdles, including an ambition to create a common BRICS currency, an idea that was floated by Brazil but was subsequently\u00a0nixed.<\/p>\n While interest in CBDCs has been dampened globally by rising stablecoin adoption, India continues to position its e-rupee as a safer, more regulated alternative.<\/p>\n CBDCs \u201cdo not pose many of the risks associated with stablecoins,\u201d RBI Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar said last month.<\/p>\n \u201cBeyond the facilitation of illicit payments and circumvention of control measures, stablecoins raise significant concerns for monetary stability, fiscal policy, banking intermediation and systemic resilience,\u201d Sankar said.<\/p>\n India\u00a0fears\u00a0widespread stablecoin use could fragment national payments and weaken its digital payments ecosystem, Reuters reported in September.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Reuters with additional input and editing by Jim Pollard<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n ALSO SEE: \t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/BRICs-summit-in-Rio-Brazil-July-6-2025-DPR-PMO-via-Rtrs-.jpg\")
BRICS leaders are seen at a Peace and Security and Reform of Global Governance talk at the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in July 2025 (India govt-ANI pic via Reuters).
\nBRICs broadening<\/p>\n
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