Lula defends new currency to strengthen transactions between Brics countries

Through videoconference, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva speaks this Wednesday (23) at the plenary session of the 16th Brics summit. In defense of a multipolar order, Lula defends a common currency for transactions between the bloc’s countries.

“Now is the time to move forward in creating alternative payment methods for transactions between our countries. It’s not about replacing our currencies. But we need to work so that the multipolar order we seek is reflected in the international financial system”, he proposed, referring to the dependence on the dollar in global transactions.

For Brazilians, this discussion needs to be faced with seriousness, caution and technical solidity, but it cannot be postponed any longer.

“Many insist on dividing the world between friends and enemies. But the most vulnerable are not interested in simplistic dichotomies. Therefore, the motto of the Brazilian presidency will be ‘Strengthening Cooperation in the Global South for a More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance’”, he said.

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The president highlights the importance of the bloc for the world economy. Until last year, the group was made up only of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The current meeting includes the participation of the new members: Egypt, Iran, United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia.

In this way, Lula considers the current system to be unfair from the point of view of global participation.

“We represent 36% of global GDP by purchasing power parity. We have 72% of the planet’s rare earths, 75% of the manganese and 50% of the graphite. However, financial flows continue to go to rich nations. It is a Marshall Plan in reverse, in which emerging and developing economies finance the developed world”,

For him, Brics initiatives and institutions break with this logic. “The activities of the Business Council contributed to expanding trade between us. Brazilian exports to the BRICS countries grew twelvefold between 2003 and 2023. The BRICS are now the origin of almost a third of Brazil’s imports”, he highlights.

The president cites successful examples such as the Women’s Business Alliance, which created networks to promote female economic empowerment and combat persistent gender inequalities.

“Through the Interbank Cooperation Mechanism, our national development banks will establish credit lines in local currencies, which will reduce transaction costs for small and medium-sized companies”, he assures.

Banco do Brics

With the presence at the table of former president Dilma Roussef, current president of the New Development Bank (NDB), also known as the Brics bank, Lula highlights investments in infrastructure to strengthen the economies of member countries.

“Under the leadership of comrade Dilma Rousseff, the NDB currently has a portfolio of almost 100 projects and financing in the order of 33 billion dollars”, he explains.

Lula says the BRICS bank was designed to succeed in an environment where the Bretton Woods institutions continue to fail.

“Instead of offering programs that impose conditionalities, the NDB finances projects aligned with national priorities. Instead of deepening disparities, its governance is based on voting equality”, he praises.

Paz

Amid wars on the planet, the president says that people want “abundant food, decent work and public schools and hospitals with universal access and quality”. “And a healthy environment, without climate events that put its survival at risk. And a life of peace, without weapons that victimize innocent people”, he argues.

Lula remembers Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s speech at the UN General Assembly, for whom Gaza has become “the largest cemetery for children and women in the world”.

“This foolishness is now spreading to the West Bank and Lebanon. Avoiding escalation and initiating peace talks is also crucial in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. At a time when we are facing two wars with the potential to become global, it is essential to restore our ability to work together towards common goals”, he says.

BRICS Presidency

Lula also highlights that, next year, Brazil will return to the presidency of the Brics. In this sense, it reaffirms the bloc’s vocation in the fight for a multipolar world and for less asymmetrical relations between countries.

“We cannot accept the imposition of ‘apartheid’ in access to vaccines and medicines, as occurred during the pandemic, nor in the development of Artificial Intelligence, which is on its way to becoming a privilege for the few. We need to strengthen our technological capabilities and favor the adoption of non-exclusive multilateral frameworks, in which the voice of governments prevails over private interests”, he highlights.

Climate change

The president also said that Brics is an essential actor in tackling climate change. However, he considers there is no doubt that the greatest responsibility lies with rich countries, whose emissions history culminated in the climate crisis.

“It is necessary to go beyond the 100 billion annually promised and not fulfilled, and strengthen measures to monitor the commitments made. The scientific data express an unprecedented sense of urgency. The planet is one and its future depends on collective action”, he says.

He said that emerging countries will do their part to limit the increase in global temperature to one and a half degrees.

“At COP 30, in Belém, together we will show that it is possible to reconcile greater ambition in our Nationally Determined Contributions with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities”, he predicts.