Russia proposes testing CBDC payments with BRICS+ members

Since the start of the war in Ukraine two years ago, Russia has faced increasing financial and economic sanctions. Developing central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and integrating them into an alternative payment system to the Western system is a way to circumvent these sanctions.

Russia proposes to use central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) for international settlement between BRICS+ countries

band BRICS+ This is a group of countries with increasing economic weight on the world stage. It originally includes five countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Then, in January 2024, these countries agreed to five new members joining the group: Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The group's member states take turns holding the presidency of the group, and Russia is the current chair of the group for 2024. It therefore strives to use its presidency of the group to advance work on the issues that it she considers as priorities. These issues include: the adoption of a payment system based on central bank digital currencies (CBDC).

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has announced that his country is seeking to create a payments system for trade between BRICS+ countries, independent of the West's "hostile" infrastructure. In an interview with Russian media, Anton Siluanov clearly stated:

“We propose to create a platform that connects the financial systems of participating countries. For example, technological gateways for BDigital currencies For central banks (CBDC) already. We propose to create a BRICS+ bridge system, which will be accessible to our member states, will ensure an appropriate level of equality and contribute to the development of trade relations... We are ready to start tests with countries that express interest in that. . “Maybe with China, or maybe with our neighbors in the Eurasian Economic Union, or with the Arab Gulf states.”

Russia is currently testing the digital ruble, the digital currency of the Russian Central Bank, in a process that will continue until the end of this year, with the participation of 30 Russian financial institutions. However, Anton Siluanov did not explicitly mention the use of the digital ruble in this future system, which he calls the BRICS+ bridge.

Also read 👈 Central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Who is it? How will you change the future?

For its part, China has already launched the digital yuan and is currently testing its use in international settlement. The Mbridge initiative aims to connect the economies of China, Hong Kong, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates through a common payment system based on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). And it was over Mbridge Testing the digital UAE dirham.