The creation of an alternative payment system to the BRICS will provide countries in the Global South with cheaper and faster transactions, and will also attract developing economies. In the West, meanwhile, they fear that this mechanism will allow participants to circumvent imposed sanctions and will lead to the collapse of the long-term dominance of the United States in the global financial system, which was “the basis of the post-war order.” To date, global national dollar reserves have fallen from about 70 percent to 58 percent.
“Sending money around the world is a bit like taking a long-haul flight. If two airports are not directly connected, passengers will have to transfer, ideally at a busy hub where many other planes connect. In the world of international payments, the largest hub is America, where many banks around the world exchange foreign currencies for dollars, and then for the currencies in which payments are received,” the authors of the article note.