BRICS members Russia and Iran announced that they have officially abandoned the US dollar for trade between the two nations.
Russia reported that 96% of all cross-border transactions between Iran have been settled in local currencies, the ruble and rial. In 2024, the usage of local currencies between Russia and Iran is up by 12.4%, making 96% of all settlements.
“We (BRICS members Iran and Russia) have entered into a currency agreement with Russia and fully removed the US dollar. Now we only trade in rubles and rials,” said the Governor of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic, Mohammad Reza Farzin. However, both nations face sanctions as the White House has made it difficult to accept the US dollar.
In July this year, both the BRICS countries agreed to a currency swap policy signed by the Russian and Iranian central banks. They also completed the integration of Russia’s Mir payment as a replacement for the SWIFT messaging system and the US dollar. Russia also allowed Iranian citizens to withdraw the rial in ATMs across the country.
While the US pressed sanctions on BRICS member Russia to weaken its economy, the Kremlin is bypassing the sanctions by convincing other countries to ditch the US dollar and begin using local currencies. The de-dollarization initiative is growing and many developing countries are now eager to join the bandwagon.
If the dollar is ditched by member countries, many sectors in the US will be affected if BRICS ditches the dollar for trade. The development will make the US dollar lose out on the supply and demand mechanism in the currency markets. If the US fails to export the dollar, inflation in the homeland could increase leading to high prices for daily-essentials.
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