There is a new power emerging and it looks as though it may have enough power to undo the petrodollar and introduce a new global currency that will break the dominance of the United States.
The BRICS group, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, which represents 42 percent of the global population and 24 percent of the global gross domestic product, has two countries interested in joining – Iran and Argentina.
The group was first formed in 2001 and later South Africa joined in 2010.
Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said Tehran has been engaged in “a series of consultations” with BRICS about its application to join. He added that Iran’s membership “would result in added values for both sides.”
Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez also expressed his hope of his country joining BRICS.
“We are enthusiastic about the prospect of coordinating policies that enhance the agenda of the countries of the global south,” said the Argentinian leader. “We aspire to be full members of this group of nations.”
The Argentinian President also took the opportunity to showcase why it would be a productive member of BRICS.
“We are safe and responsible food suppliers, recognized in the field of biotechnology and applied logistics technology. This means that we are not only capable of producing and exporting food. We also know how to provide services and train specialists, so that other countries can increase their productive efficiency and thus improve the quality of life of their inhabitants.”
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed that both Iran and Argentina had formally submitted applications for BRICS membership.
“While the White House was thinking what to disconnect, ban or spoil the world, Argentina and Iran have applied for joining BRICS,” she wrote in a message on the Telegram app.
If Iran and Argentina are successful in their applications, both countries respective currencies – the rial and the peso – will become part of the new global currency system.
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, BRICS members are already working on a new currency, made up of the five member countries currencies – the ruble, rand, rupee, yuan and real.
“The issue of creating an international reserve currency based on a basket of currencies of our countries is being worked out,” he said during the BRICS business forum.
Putin added that the group is working towards a safer, more reliable alternative for international transactions, rather than the SWIFT platform backed by Western nations.
The cooperation has also boosted trade and local currencies for the members, another reason for wanting to cut reliance western systems.
“It is only on the basis of honest and mutually beneficial cooperation that we can look for ways out of the critical situation that has emerged in the world economy,” Putin said in a speech. The Russian leader blamed “the ill-conceived and selfish actions of certain states, which, by using financial mechanisms, are actually shifting their own macroeconomic policy mistakes onto the rest of the world.”
