BRICS isn’t launching a new currency this weekend – here’s what “de-dollarisation” actually means

Source: Business Today | Original Published At: 2026-09-11 13:09:44 UTC

Key Points

• In BRICS usage, de-dollarisation means settling more bilateral trade directly in local currencies, bypassing the dollar and the US banking system for specific transactions.
• BRICS Pay is designed to link China's CIPS, India's UPI, Brazil's Pix, and Russia's SPFS for cross-border settlement without routing through SWIFT and correspondent dollar banking.
• The full rollout of BRICS Pay is timed to this week's Delhi summit.
• Russia and China now settle roughly 90% of their bilateral trade directly in rubles and yuan, with Russia highly motivated after being cut off from dollar-based clearing systems.
• The dollar was on one side of about 89.2% of all currency trades in 2025, even as its share of global reserves has slipped.
• India's central bank keeps the rupee only partially convertible, and its foreign minister has said the dollar as reserve currency supports global economic stability.