There has been no direct request from BRICS focusing on de-dollarisation. However, there were discussions and agreement in the BRICS Payments Task Force on the following focus areas for 2023:
a) Feasibility study on the implementation of the following elements of the G20 Crossborder Payments Roadmap:
b) The sharing of information on lessons from BRICS member countries on how sandboxes were operated; the aims of the sandboxes; how sandboxes are being utilised; some lessons learned and successes; and how sandboxes inform regulatory frameworks;
c) The sharing of experiences on central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) to draw lessons across the BRICS countries, look at the different experiences and to determine how central banks could leverage from the sharing of information; and
d) The BRICS member countries to consider, bilaterally, the interlinking of payment infrastructures for settlement in their own currencies.
The South African Government has also been approached by both Russia and India on areas of possible collaboration and cooperation, including the interlinking of payment insfrastructures for settlement in their own currencies. Preliminary discussions have taken place between the South African Reserve Bank and the central banks of the two countries (with the Indian Ambassador to South Africa being part of the delegation). The discussion with the Central Bank of the Russian Federation focussed on the interlinking of both the retail instant payment systems and settlement systems, while the engagements with the Reserve Bank of India were premised on the settlement systems interlinking, using their respective currencies.
The SARB guided that the interlinking discussions be held in abeyance until after the several domestic and regional payments initiatives led by the SARB have been concluded/implemented. These include the Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) Renewal, the Association of African Central Banks (AACB) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) initiatives. Additionally, progress and development will also be driven by the market’s appetite to settle in alternative currencies.