On Thursday, 5 October, Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in the plenary session of the 20th anniversary meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, as reported by the official website of the President of the Russian Federation.

The head of state spoke about the growing influence of the BRICS countries in the global arena and the strengthening of their economies. The Russian leader noted during his speech that the share of the BRICS countries in purchasing power parity in relation to the share of the G7 countries is increasing, especially after the admission of new members to the organisation.

In addition, Putin emphasised that the fundamental task at present is to establish a system of settlements in the national currencies of the BRICS countries and create financial logistics. The head of state also said that it is necessary to take into account the macroeconomic indicators of the economies of the “five” countries, exchange rate differences, inflationary processes and so on.

In his opinion, the work on the formation of a single currency of the BRICS bloc is not on the agenda yet, as it is necessary to achieve a certain parity in the development of the economies of the group. As the president noted, this is a very distant prospect.

“But to work on improving the entire financial system – both global finance and financial relations within the BRICS – we, of course, must and will do so”

Vladimir Putin President of Russia

Photo: screenshot of the broadcast of the 20th meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club