Valentina Matvienko, Chairman of the Russian Federation Council, talked about the role of national digital currencies, also known as CBDCs, in increasing the use of national currencies in BRICS trade. Matvienko stated that a hypothetical BRICS bridge, a joint payment system, would leverage the digital currencies of all the bloc states.

Russian Senate Chairman Profiles Use of National Digital Currencies in BRICS Payment System

Valentina Matvienko, Chairman of the Russian Federation Council, recently assessed the role that national digital currencies, also known as central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), would play in organizing a hypothetical BRICS joint payment system. At the X BRICS Parliamentary Forum held in San Petersburgo, Matvienko stated that while the use of national currencies has increased among countries of the bloc, Russia intended to intensify the use, efficiency, and safety of these transactions.

Matvienko stated that his drive comes after the establishment of sanctions by Western countries, having diminished the use of so-called “toxic currencies” in half over the last year.

She stressed that if the work established between the BRICS representatives results in the creation of a payment system, potentially called the BRICS bridge, these tools could be useful to facilitate decentralized trading transactions. This means that “none of the participants will be able to limit the actions of the others.”

Matvienko stressed:

In this case, digital currencies of the central banks of the association countries can be used, the rate of which will be tied to the value of national currencies.

However, she acknowledged that this outcome will require coordinated legislative work for introducing the circulation of these currencies in BRICS countries and regulating their use in cross-border payments.

Before, Nasser Kanani, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran, proposed to link all of the existing payment systems of the BRICS nations, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

What do you think about the upcoming role of CBDCs in facilitating trade among BRICS countries? Tell us in the comments section below.