A viral social media claim says that BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) have launched a new shared currency to compete with the U.S. dollar.
“The BRICS countries have launched a new BRICS currency to challenge the dollar,” read a claim.
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However, BOOM found that there has been no official announcement about any such currency yet. The image circulating online is just a design of what a future BRICS currency might look like.
The 16th BRICS Summit was held between October 22 and 24 in Kazan, Russia. This year, new members Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates joined the summit for the first time.
Fact-check
A photo of Putin holding a “BRICS bill” with the flags of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa sparked claims that BRICS had officially launched a joint currency. However, officials clarified that this was not true.
They confirmed to Financial Express that the note Putin held was a “mock-up” presented by enthusiasts at the Kazan summit and not an official BRICS currency.
We also found a post on X from a verified BRICS information source stating that "Russian President Putin was gifted a mock-up of a 'BRICS bill' at the BRICS summit in Kazan."
Further, the Press Information Bureau’s fact-checking unit had also verified the viral claim stating that the claims were fake.
The BRICS currency is a proposed alternative currency intended for trade among BRICS nations. Its aim is to help these nations achieve greater economic independence and to provide competition against the current international financial system dominated by Western countries. This initiative aims to facilitate trade between BRICS members and reduce dependency on the U.S. dollar.
However, this isn’t the first time an alternative international payment system has been proposed.
In 2023, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva suggested that BRICS countries create a shared currency for trade, aiming to reduce their reliance on the U.S. dollar. But, experts, including India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, questioned the practicality of the idea, as per an Al Jazeera report.