The bloc’s member states should further strengthen economic ties, according to FM

The sustainable development of financial relations and settlements within the BRICS organization is very important for all member states, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has said.

The statement was made at the Russia-China Financial Dialogue forum in Beijing on Monday, where Siluanov met with his Chinese counterpart, Lan Foan.

The BRICS group of emerging economies – which currently incorporates Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – has been discussing ways to facilitate payments in local currencies between member countries. The bloc aims to reduce their reliance on the US dollar and the euro for accelerated growth.

“We need to further develop financial cooperation within the BRICS countries. Here we see opportunities … to develop a payments system that would be independent of the infrastructure, which does not always fully fulfill the goals of individual countries,” Siluanov stated.

“Therefore, the sustainable development of financial relations and settlements on the BRICS platform is important for us, and we believe that it is necessary to work out such issues, and today we will consider a number of them,” he added.

READ MORE: BRICS overtaking G7 in economic might – Bloomberg

Russia and its trade partners among developing nations, including fellow BRICS members, have started to switch to alternative currencies in mutual trade, after sanctions effectively cut Moscow off from the Western financial system. A growing number of nations are turning to national currency settlements in trade.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT’s business section