Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has made it clear that BRICS is not working on a common currency, pushing back against months of global speculation. In an exclusive interview with India Today TV, the Brazilian leader said the idea of a “BRICS currency” is neither on the table nor under discussion among member countries.
“There is no proposal to create the BRICS currency. There is no debate within BRICS about whether to create a new currency,” Lula said, calling the international chatter around it “misunderstood”.
Local-currency trade, not a BRICS currency
While rejecting the idea of a single BRICS currency, Lula strongly supported the use of local currencies between India and Brazil. He said the two nations should ask whether every single trade agreement must rely on the US dollar.
“It is not necessary that a trade agreement between India and Brazil has to be done with US dollars. We can use our own currencies. It is difficult, but we can try,” the Brazilian president said.
He added that India and Brazil should begin exploring whether the rupee and the real can directly settle trade, especially as their economic relationship grows.
However, he cautioned that the global financial system cannot shift overnight.
“No one has to rely on the dollar, but you cannot undo this system overnight,” Lula said.
Why the dollar debate matters
Lula acknowledged that the United States would naturally resist any move that weakens the dollar’s dominance.
“The dollar is the world’s strongest currency, and the Americans don’t want other currencies to rise. We have to take that into account,” he said.
But he maintained that discussions around local-currency trade are not anti-dollar. Instead, they are about giving countries more options in bilateral commerce.
BRICS as a platform of the Global South
Lula described BRICS as one of the most important global groupings created in the last three decades, representing the voice of the Global South in an increasingly polarised world.
“India and China alone carry half the world’s population. More than half of humanity is in BRICS,” he said.
He stressed that Brazil does not want a world divided between superpower blocs.
“We don’t want a second war. We don’t want a cold war between China and the US. Brazil wants to trade with all countries,” he said.
He called himself a strong advocate of multilateralism, saying BRICS gives emerging economies a greater say in global decision-making.
