Russia reducing dollar component in trade with BRICS

A report by global audit and consulting firm FinExpertiza reveals that Russia’s trade with its BRICS partners– Brazil, India, China, and South Africa – reached US$125 billion during the previous year.

The report also concludes that share of export settlements by Russia with these countries in rubles increased by more than seven times over a five-year period to 6.3 billion in dollar equivalent. The share of settlements in euros also increased by nearly eight times.

Meanwhile, the share of US dollars in Russian exports to BRICS dropped by 20%. Its share is now at 77% or US$ 51 billion. In the case of imports, it declined by 18% since 2013 to US$ 42.4 billion, while euro settlements rose by 9.3% to US$ 2.8 billion.

Overall, the share of payments in national currencies between BRICS countries has increased by three times to US$ 2.7 billion. FinExpertiza’s chairperson Elena Trubnikova opined that the key driver for this shift to national currencies has been the increase in commodity turnover.