India’s central bank has proposed that BRICS countries link their official digital currencies to make cross-border trade and tourism payments easier, Reuters reports, according to two sources.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) wants to put the proposal on the agenda for the 2026 BRICS summit, which India will host later this year. The move could further reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar at a time of rising financial warfare, and would be expected to draw condemnation from Washington.
BRICS members are still running pilot programs and none have fully launched a central bank digital currency. There are many technical issues to address: technological interoperability, governance structures, and means of managing trade imbalances, including possible central bank swap arrangements.
