The [31-point Final Communiqué] issued today by the ten full BRICS members makes clear that there is not yet a consensus on how (or even if) to create the new credit mechanisms urgently needed to sustain the enormous development projects required in the Global South, if peace on this planet is to be established and humanity to progress.
The long arm of the imperialist disease of monetarism clearly has the majority of the finance ministers and central bankers of the BRICS countries in its grip. The clauses in the Final Communiqué produced by the BRICS leaders dealing with trade in local currency, investment platforms for credit and other proposed mechanisms to defend the BRICS nations from the dying IMF system, were, by and large, picked up from the “Ministerial Statement” issued after the finance ministers and central bankers met on July 5.
The premise of the Ministerial Statement is that the current system can be reformed. They called for the IMF to be better funded because it stands “at the center of the global financial safety net,” and talked up reform of the World Bank.
It appears the sole initiative agreed on is for a BRICS Multilateral Guarantees pilot project to be established in the BRICS New Development Bank. Essentially, this mechanism will help countries obtain loans at lower interest rates, by the NDB providing guarantees for specific projects because it generally has a better credit rating. Even here, it is specified that no additional capital contributions will be raised for it, and it is only to be made available to member countries of the NDB.
Mechanisms urged by BRICS leaders, however, have not been ruled out, even if the finance boys don’t like them. Take the case of the “New Investment Platform (NIP),” originally proposed by Russian President Putin at the end of the 2024 BRICS summit in Kazan. The wording in both the final communiqué and the finance Ministerial document on this is that they “welcome the constructive discussions held in the first semester of 2025 on the concept of the NIP,” and “look forward to the continuation of technical-level efforts throughout the second semester of 2025, involving Finance Ministries and Central Banks, to further discuss and build consensus on the Platform, with the aim that these ongoing deliberations will pave the way for more consistent and meaningful progress.”
The obvious behind-the-scenes battle reflected in the wording on the “BRICS Cross-Border Payments Initiative” is downright humorous: “progress has been made … in possible pathways to support the continuation of discussions on the potential for greater interoperability.”
But the Final Communiqué is not necessarily the actual outcome of the summit. In all such international meetings, it is in the face-to-face dialogue between leaders where new ideas are developed and historical decisions taken, which are not reflected in the consensus documents negotiated in advance, or even captured in the formal speeches presented.
