BRICS Countries Told to Consider Countering the Dollar's Global Hegemony

Chinese experts have called on leaders of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries to consider countering the dollar, whose global hegemony is thought to be abusive. Still, the experts concede that any attempt to diminish the dollar’s dominance will take time.

BRICS Countries’ Dependence on the US-Dominated Global Financial System

Chinese experts have urged BRICS countries, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, to counter the dollar’s global dominance which is now being abused by the United States government, a report has said. According to the experts, BRICS countries can achieve this by enhancing trade ties and limiting their reliance on a financial system in which the U.S. dollar dominates.

As explained in a Global Times report, the call by the experts was made just before the foreign ministers from the five countries were scheduled to hold a virtual meeting on May 19. At the meeting, the foreign ministers were expected to discuss enhancing solidarity, building consensus, as well as giving emerging markets a greater voice in global governance.

In making the case against BRICS countries’ continued dependence on the U.S.-dominated financial system, one of the experts, Cao Yuanzheng, the chairman of BOC International Research, claimed the United States only prioritizes its domestic needs and is less concerned about the potential consequences of its policies. Yuanzheng said:

The international transactions and financial markets, which are dominated by the US dollar, have shown growing internal contradictions as Washington’s policies treat its domestic needs as the first goal instead of international needs.

US Dollar Neutrality

The expert added that the recent sanctioning of Russia, as well as the United States government’s freezing of the former’s forex and gold reserves, means the U.S. dollar is no longer a neutral currency. Meanwhile, the report implied China’s yuan currency, which is popular in countries and regions along routes of the Belt and Road Initiative, can be an alternative to the dollar. Therefore, an agreement between BRICS countries could potentially result in the increased use of the yuan in certain regions, the report said.

However, other experts interviewed by Global Times warned that reducing the U.S. dollar’s dominance will take time. Similar sentiments were recently expressed by the former governor of China’s central bank, Zhou Xiaochuan. Xiaochuan has previously warned that reducing the dollar’s dominance will also depend on whether businesses and the public are willing to suddenly abandon a currency they have been using for a long time.

Tian Yun, the former vice director of the Beijing Economic Operation Association, suggested the yuan’s chances of taking the U.S. dollar’s position as the main settlement currency depend on other countries’ confidence in China’s progress.

Still, another expert, Zhou Maohua, a macroeconomic analyst at Everbright Bank, spoke of the Chinese currency’s rising role in global payments, settlements, and foreign exchange reserves over the long term.

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Terence Zimwara

Terence Zimwara is a Zimbabwe award-winning journalist, author and writer. He has written extensively about the economic troubles of some African countries as well as how digital currencies can provide Africans with an escape route.