That is the title of a Sept. 23 article by Pepe Escobar in Sputnik, which provides insight into the background discussions underway in the lead-up to the Oct. 22-24 BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia.
Escobar reports that “what’s at stake is the extremely complex design of a brand-new financial system,” although some of those involved are setting their sights lower. “Serious informed discussions are raging in Moscow and other Eurasian capitals on what should be at the table in the de-dollarization and alternative payment system front.” He quotes an unnamed finance tech executive: “Time has come for BRICS to become a real actor. The world demands it. The leaders of BRICS countries clearly understand it. They have the moral power and the political will.…”
Escobar rightly pushes the required central role of the BRICS’ New Development Bank (NDB) as a source of development credit under the new architecture. When current NDB President Dilma Rousseff’s term expires in July 2025, the next president will be chosen by Russia, and “as it stands, the talk of the town in Moscow informed circles is that Alexey Mozhin, the IMF’s executive director for Russia, has a 60% chance to be appointed to the NDB.” Mozhin is close to Russian Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, a monetarist in outlook, and his replacement in the IMF post will reportedly be Ksenia Yudaeva, a former deputy of Nabiullina’s.
“So, what may be in the cards is an NDB/IMF reshuffle on the Russian front,” Escobar writes. “The NDB’s policies so far have not been exactly revolutionary—considering that the bank’s statutes are linked to the U.S. dollar. The new deal could place the NDB as leverage for a reform of the IMF, rather than an alternative to it.”
