Russia Pitches BRICS Payment System Aiming to Break US Dominance

  • Report says settlements with tokens could save billions
  • Russia has sought to lower reliance on dollar after sanctions

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Vladimir Putin attends a meeting in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

Photographer: Gavriil Grigorov/AFP/Getty Images
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Russia is proposing changes to cross-border payments conducted among BRICS countries aimed at circumventing the global financial system, as the heavily penalized country seeks to sanctions-proof its own economy.

The alternatives include developing a network of commercial banks that can conduct such transactions in local currencies as well as establishing direct links between central banks, according to a report prepared by the Russian Finance Ministry, the Bank of Russia and Moscow-based consultancy Yakov & Partners.