India is pushing for central bank digital currencies and enhanced digital payments within BRICS, aiming to streamline trade and foster currency independence ahead of next month’s summit marking two decades of the grouping.
India is preparing to push central bank digital currencies and faster cross-border digital payments on the BRICS agenda when the grouping meets in New Delhi next month, according to people familiar with the discussions cited by the Economic Times. The proposal is aimed at making trade within the bloc cheaper and more efficient, while also encouraging greater use of national currencies in settling transactions.
Officials are also expected to examine whether BRICS can narrow trade imbalances among members, the newspaper reported. A high-level meeting is due next week to work through practical questions around digital currency use and the mechanics of boosting intra-BRICS commerce without relying so heavily on third-country currencies.
The summit, set for September 12 and 13, will mark 20 years since BRICS was formed. The Economic Times said India’s central bank has already been piloting a CBDC, but that interoperability and technology alignment remain major obstacles if member states want systems to talk to one another smoothly.
A separate Reuters report in January said the Reserve Bank of India had proposed linking the official digital currencies of BRICS countries as a way to support trade and tourism payments. That report said the idea was framed as a practical payments upgrade rather than a move aimed at any one country, even though wider discussion around CBDCs has often carried geopolitical overtones.
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