Putin Says Russia And Brics Are Developing A Cross-State Digital Payment System

Screenshot - Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin delivered a speech at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Friday. (DOC. ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin when speaking at the St. International Economic Forum. Petersburg (SPIEF), Friday, said Moscow was working with BRICS to develop a cross-border digital payment system.

"Regarding the payment system, we cooperate with partners from BRICS. Of course, the experience of our countries is needed, especially to build national currencies in the digital field," he said, quoted by ANTARA, Saturday, June 21.

He explained that Russia had implemented a pilot project for the implementation of digital payments, which included opening and closing accounts, inter-people transfers and legal entities, as well as trade and service payments.

Putin hopes that the digital ruble can be used massively, both by the government and Russian citizens.

"I ask the central bank and the government to accelerate the use of this digital ruble in their daily lives," said Putin, who spoke in a plenary session with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto.

The BRICS payment system, which includes BRICS Pay and Brics Bridge, is an attempt by BRICS member countries initiated by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa to reduce dependence on existing international payment systems, such as SWIFT, as well as US dollars in cross-border transactions.

Indonesia, which just joined BRICS on January 6, has the potential to utilize this payment system for trade and investment transactions, as well as reduce the risk of exchange rate fluctuations.

Citing Sputnik, Putin described the strong cooperation between BRICS as shown by the increasing trade turnover among its member states to surpass 1 trillion US dollars.

The joint trade Omzet between our countries has surpassed $1 trillion and continues to grow. All of this is an element of the global growth platform," he said in the SPIEF plenary session.

"And everything is based on the main principles of BRICS, namely, consensus, equality, and consideration of each other's interests," Putin added.

He said the BRICS countries were implementing large-scale initiatives, including in nuclear and robotic energy.

Putin also claimed that the share of BRICS countries in the global economy had doubled since the beginning of this century and it was certain that it would continue to grow.