Russian Ambassador to Egypt Borisenko said on the 14th that Cairo has formally applied to join the BRICS cooperation mechanism and is very interested in “de-dollarization”.
According to the ITAR-Tass news agency on the 14th, Borisenko said on the same day: “Egypt has submitted an application to join the BRICS because an initiative is currently under way to shift trade to alternative currencies other than the US dollar, whether it is a national currency or the creation of a common currency.” Egypt is very interested.” Borisenko added that Egypt is eager to strengthen trade and economic cooperation with Russia and “is in the process of establishing new payment mechanisms for trade transactions.” Egypt’s Minister of Supply and Domestic Trade, Ali Moselhy, was quoted by Reuters on the 12th as saying that Egypt is seeking to use local currency settlement when importing goods from BRICS countries such as India, China and Russia.
The Russian “Le Point” on the 14th quoted Russian political scientist Bordachev as saying that Egypt’s accession to BRICS will make the organization’s position on global issues more comprehensive. The BRICS now represent the voices of Asia, Africa and Latin America, and the inclusion of Egypt will allow the organization to take into account the views of the Arab world. Saudi Arabia’s “Middle East Times” commented that in view of Egypt’s pivotal political influence and economic volume, its accession will further increase the weight, role and influence of the BRICS countries, making the BRICS more complete and more shining.
According to Russian media reports, the BRICS countries are currently exploring the possibility of creating a new form of currency, the details of which will be announced during the summit in South Africa. Former President of Brazil and President of the BRICS New Development Bank Dilma Rousseff said at the eighth annual meeting of the New Development Bank’s Board of Governors on May 30 that attracting more capital and different currencies in more markets and providing investment and financing services in member countries’ local currencies is a major priority for the future of the New Development Bank. At present, the NDB provides about 22% of its total investment in member countries’ local currencies, and hopes to further increase this proportion to 30% in the future.