Reducing dependence on the US dollar will allow the BRICS countries to become invulnerable to Western sanctions both now and in the future, writes the American newspaper The New York Times, as quoted by Focus.
"These sanctions only work because the dollar dominates the world,” Sarang Shidore, director of the "Global South” program, told the publication. at the "Quincy“ Institute in Washington.
The NYT also notes that joining BRICS is "partly a bet on the economy”: members of the association are looking for alternative sources of funding as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are influenced by the West, especially the US. Developing countries believe that the New Development Bank, which has "issued billions of dollars in loans and allowed them to be repaid in national currencies”, is more tolerant.
Furthermore, many participating countries view BRICS as "geopolitical insurance” against the unpredictable behavior of the US, the publication states. According to analysts, "the feeling of uncertainty" is intensifying ahead of the presidential election: "The US has shown that it is capable of changing its foreign policy 180 degrees depending on who is in the White House”.