President Vladimir Putin confirmed at the 2025 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday that 90% of all transactions were settled in local currencies among BRICS members. The majority of the cross-border settlements were paid in rubles along with other local currencies, revealed Putin.
He also revealed at the BRICS 2025 summit that transactions in local currencies are booming. “Friendly nations” are putting forward their national currencies for trade deals and not the US dollar for payment settlements. This makes the alliance much stronger as it’s the only bloc that’s actively taking on the West.
“The use of national currencies in trade among our countries is steadily growing. In 2024, the share of our national currency, the ruble, along with the currencies of friendly nations, accounted for 90% of Russia’s settlements with other BRICS states,” Putin emphasized at the 2025 summit.
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Local Currencies Rule the Roost at BRICS 2025 Summit

Putin revealed that BRICS is discussing at thesummit to make payments in local currencies smoother and faster. It includes logistics, insurance, and other financial services to upgrade their payment processing infrastructure among member nations. The ultimate goal is to remain competitive with the West and build an independent system from the US-dominated financial sector.
“First and foremost, in such areas as technology, the efficient development of resources, logistics and insurance, trade, and finance. It is also necessary to further expand the use of national currencies in mutual settlements,” he noted at the BRICS 2025 summit.
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Russia has been the flag-bearer in convincing the alliance to switch to local currency payments. Even China is actively pursuing global de-dollarization by persuading other countries to ditch the US dollar for trade and transactions. It has spread its wings in Asia, Africa, and South America. Local currencies are dominating the dialogue at the ongoing BRICS summit while the US dollar is pushed to the backseat.