In what is certainly a sign of growing BRICS de-dollarization efforts, Russia, China, and India have ditched the US dollar in 95% of trade. Indeed, the Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Tatiana Mohaghan, revealed the massive shift in currency usage in Russia’s dealings with the two countries.
The shift was defined by a massive increase in local currency usage in the trade between Russia and the two BRICS nations. Moreover, the ICC reported that Russia’s export settlements in either the US dollar or the Euro also fell drastically. Specifically, it has fallen from more than 85% in 2021 to just 34% last year.
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95% of Russian Trade With China and India Settled in Local Currencies
Over the last year, the BRICS economic alliance has not been shy about its de-dollarization plans. Indeed, amid increased Western Sanctions on Russia, the country shifted its trade focus. As a result, the bloc has increased its overall usage of local currencies in bilateral trade.
That transition has led to some massive changes in the overall usage rate of different currencies by the three biggest nations. Specifically, for BRICS countries Russia China, and India, they have ditched the US dollar in 95% of trade. Russia has seen its overall trade settlements with these two countries occur in local currencies.
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The ICC has stated that Russian ruble usage in cross-border transactions has increased by 39% from 2021 to 2023. Moreover, friendly country currencies also increased over the same time frame. Altogether, the shift in focus on trade settlement was put into action for the first time last year and is expected to grow significantly throughout 2024.
“95% of settlements in the Chinese and Indian directions in 2023 were carried out in national currencies,” Monaghan stated. “China has become Russia’s key trade partner accounting for 29% of trade turnover.” Moreover, Russian President Vladimir Putin previously said that Russia and China settled nearly 70% of trade in local currencies.