Speaking at the Outreach/BRICS Plus meeting, conceived at the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the Russian Foreign Minister emphasized that the erosion of the global economic order is worsening as a result of unilateral and illegitimate measures and the use of the dollar as a weapon of punishment.

“Confidence in the US currency, which was previously a reliable means of payment, has been shaken,” the Russian Foreign Minister said.

The Foreign Minister pointed to another negative factor: the “rapid increase in the debt burden; the number of countries with a high level of unfulfilled monetary commitments grew from 22 to 59.”

Today, developing nations spend more on debt servicing than on their own development.

The situation is spiraling out of control even in developed countries: the United States has a record national debt of $37 trillion and continues to grow, Lavrov argued.

Amid this international scenario, the Russian Minister emphasized that the BRICS countries are currently developing projects to create independent settlement and deposit infrastructure, as well as a cross-border payments initiative, in order to develop reinsurance capacities and increase the efficiency of special economic zones.

In this regard, he added that, in addition to the announced initiatives, “they are also improving the common fund mechanism for conditional foreign exchange reserves, including the use of alternative currencies to the dollar.”

abo/arm/ro/odf