Expert: it is necessary to accelerate creation of modern digital SWIFT analogue

In 2022, the rate of substitution of the US Dollar in international settlements increased tenfold: de-dollarisation is proceeding at a high pace and the share of settlements in national currencies, in Russian Roubles and Chinese Yuan, is growing. The BRICS will strive to create an independent payment system based on digital currencies and blockchain. Moving away from Western financial instruments in international settlements – the Dollar and the Euro – is an objective necessity in the context of the formation of a new multipolar world order. Mikhail Kovalev, a doctor of physical and mathematical sciences and professor at the Belarusian State University’s Department of Analytical Economics and Econometrics, commented on the issue, sb.by reports.

“Belarus has actively joined – on the Chinese side – the construction of a new multipolar world, in which, as it seems to me, it is too early to write off the Russian pole. It may not be as big as Chinese or American ones, but in the case of the Union State's innovative thrust towards import-independence, it may become as significant as in the times of the Soviet Union. As for the BRICS, as it expands, this trans-regional association will increasingly replace the disintegrating world globalisation and become its largest bloc in the world. For this purpose, it is necessary to accelerate the creation of modern digital SWIFT analogue to organise instant settlements in national currencies, so that each country does not know any other currencies besides national ones. Moreover, in order to equalise trade imbalances, it is necessary to have common reserves covered, for example, by gold, which the BRICS countries have in abundance,” the economist explained.