Brazil’s Lula to push for de-dollarization at BRICS summit
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has said he plans to raise the issue of de-dollarization at the next gathering of the BRICS group of emerging economies.
“Why Brazil and Argentina would have to trade in dollars. Why don’t we do it in our own currencies? Why can’t Brazil and China trade in their currencies? The question of ‘why I need to buy dollars’ is on my agenda,” the Brazilian president said during the Paris summit on a new global financial pact, according to media reports.
Leaders of the BRICS group, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, are due to hold a summit in Johannesburg in August.
Lula had previously called on developing countries to replace the US dollar with their own currencies in international trade, a push backed by China, Iran, Turkey, Iraq and others.
“Why can't a bank like that of the BRICS have a currency to finance trade relations between Brazil and China, between Brazil and other countries?” he said in April, while addressing the New Development Bank of Shanghai.