In one of the more surprising developments of the event, the BRICS bloc denied any plans to create a cross-border payment system at the 2024 annual Summit. Indeed, speaking Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that the current infrastructure was sufficient for the economic alliance.

Throughout the year, the bloc has firmly embraced de-dollarization. The alliance’s current members have continued to seek new ways to promote the use of local currency within their trade settlements. It appears as though progress in that area will surpass the necessity to create anything new for the collective.

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BRICS Payment System No Longer the Plan, Alliance Confirms

Since 2022, the BRICS alliance has enjoyed tremendous growth. Last year, it enacted its first expansion effort in more than a decade. Moreover, it has sought increased avenues for lessening internal reliance on the West. Specifically, they have sought to challenge the dominance of Western nations in the economic sector.

However, that may not be done in the way many had predicted. At the BRICS most important event of the year, the alliance denied any plans to create a cross-border payment system within the 2024 Summit. Indeed, Vladimir Putin discussed the idea, and why it didn’t align with the bloc’s motives.

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“But we are not inventing any separate joint system for now,” Putin said according to a recent Reuters report. “What we already have is on the whole sufficient.” The statement goes against much of what has been reported and expected from the bloc in the months leading up to the event. Yet, it doesn’t diminish its ongoing de-dollarization approach.

The group has still has clearly established its focus on strengthening the global economic position of the group. During the event, it welcomed 13 official Partnerhsipi Nations that should only work to further that goal. Through the next 12 months, it should become ever closer to the multipolar world it has championed for the last two years.