BRIDGING THE GAP: As BRICS gears up for its pivotal summit in India, the proposal to interlink payment systems and digital currencies could mark a significant shift in global finance.
WITH only a few weeks left before BRICS leaders meet in India, one proposal has become the most important, and possibly the most difficult, agenda item of the summit: connecting the countries' fast-payment systems and their digital currencies (CBDCs).
Proposed by India as this year's BRICS host, this is no longer just a technical suggestion. It has become the sharpest measure yet of whether BRICS can convert its long-declared ambition for a multipolar financial order into concrete, working infrastructure, or whether the gap between statement and substance will once again prove decisive.
The proposal in plain terms
Simply put, BRICS nations want to build a digital bridge between their domestic payment networks. Today, if Brazil wants to pay South Africa for goods, that money often travels through US banks, takes days to clear, and incurs fees of 3–5%.
