As the BRICS bloc grows to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, this year could bring about greater renminbi use across emerging markets—thanks in part to the growth of renminbi financial channels across BRICS countries. And with Russia recently assuming the year-long BRICS chairmanship, policy initiatives across the bloc aimed at dedollarizing emerging markets appear likely to accelerate. Yet some countries, India in particular, appear reluctant to embrace the renminbi’s rise. Could geopolitical tensions limit the renminbi’s update across BRICS economies? Also, how will BRICS dedollarization efforts proceed across a bloc that now includes two countries with dollar-pegged currencies? How should U.S. policymakers respond to policy efforts across BRICS economies aimed at reducing dollar usage and increasing the use of local currency financial channels?
Adam J. Szubin, Sydney Maki, and Carnegie nonresident Robert Greene will discuss these issues and review new Carnegie research that profiles a flurry of ongoing policy efforts by BRICS economies aimed at growing local currency use and reducing reliance on the dollar in emerging markets.