FROM EIR DAILY ALERT
Putin BRICS Remarks Imply Need for New Monetary System
July 26, 2018 (EIRNS)—Very brief remarks delivered by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin at the Johannesburg BRICS Summit today, after a restricted meeting of the five leaders’ in the BRICS Council, implicitly point to the need for a new monetary system, and the basis which has been created for such a system in the cooperative banks, funds and institutions created by the BRICS, the Belt and Road and China, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. A good part of Putin’s statement, posted to the Facebook page of the Russian Embassy to the United States, dealt with this. He said:
“We view positively the activities of the [BRICS Business] Council to implement joint multilateral projects. It is necessary to conduct these activities in close cooperation with the [BRICS] New Development Bank. It is important that the business community should help enhance the Bank’s loan portfolio.
“The New Development Bank has considerably expanded its operations as of late. Members of the Board of Directors have approved 21 projects worth over $1 billion, including five that will be implemented in Russia.
“We support the idea of opening regional offices of the Bank. Talks are underway with Brazil on this issue. Hopefully, the possibility of opening the Russian office will be discussed after the talks.
“The establishment of the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement [to support countries under balance-of-payments pressure] deserves praise, and this has become an important mechanism for the prompt financing of our countries’ banking sector....
“In 2017, we met in Xiamen [China] and decided to establish the BRICS Local Currency Bond Fund. This is very important for the development of the financial systems of our states. Therefore, the Fund’s timely initial operations, due to commence in 2019, serve the interests of BRICS.”
