BRICS currency ‘ridiculous’ idea as China, India disagree even on group’s expansion — economist

A BRICS currency replacing U.S dollar is a ‘ridiculous’ idea, says the top economist who named the group — especially in light of the fact that China and India are not able to even agree on BRICS membership expansion that will shape the organization’s future.
The BRICS group has revealed its internal divisions, with India trying to resist China’s efforts to turn the grouping into a support organization for China’s geopolitical agenda and explicit anti-US rhetoric. Instead, India has focused BRICS discussions and activities on South-South economic and financial cooperation projects, including initiatives to reduce global reliance on the US dollar-based international financial and payment system. South Africa seems to have followed this approach in formulating the theme for the upcoming summit: “BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development, and Inclusive Multilateralism.” To reinforce its focus on Africa, South Africa has reportedly invited the leaders of all African countries to attend the summit.
But according to Jim O’Neill, the veteran economist who coined the term BRICS, the group’s push to dethrone the US dollar as the world’s largest reserve currency “is just ridiculous.” In a recent interview with the Financial Times, he questioned if “they’re going to create a BRICS central bank? How would you do that? It’s almost embarrassing.” For O’Neill, the unhealthy relationship between China and India is one of the main reasons a BRICS common currency is so unlikely — “It’s a good job for the West that China and India never agree on anything, because if they did the dominance of the dollar would be a lot more vulnerable.” As Hung Tran, former IMF Deputy Director, points out, China and India don’t agree even on such as a fundamental matter as BRICS expansion, including by a number of aspiring African countries — Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Morocco, Nigeria, and Senegal. “The two countries have vastly different ideas about how the group should move forward, as India’s disagreement with China’s push to rapidly expand the organization’s membership in the lead-up to the 22-24 August BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, demonstrates,” Tran says.