Egypt is expected to discuss promotion of bilateral trade in local currencies with BRICS countries in the upcoming meeting in Kazan, Russia.
The 2024 BRICS summit will be held from Oct 22 to 24, which is the first gathering since the group's expansion in January this year when Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined the initial five members of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
After Egypt officially joined BRICS, one of its main targets has been to support members' drive for de-dollarization.
Some in the Egyptian business community have welcomed the move to reduce dependence on the U.S. dollar.
"One of the main obstacles we face in trade is the lack of access to U.S. dollars. Using local currencies will ease the process for us when we trade with other countries," said Ahmed al Zayat, member of Egyptian Businessmen Association.
The central banks of China and Egypt had signed a currency swap agreement totaling 18 billion yuan (about 2.57 billion U.S. dollars). Egypt also inked similar deals with other countries.
"Besides Egypt, many countries are beginning to use local currencies. You can't completely eradicate dollars but they should not be the main currency of trade. In 2022, to reduce dependence on dollars, the Egyptian central bank became the top gold buyer worldwide to replace dollars with gold," said Assem Mansour, head of Market Research Department, EW Markets.
Trade with BRICS members accounts for about a third of Egypt's total trade at over 31 billion U.S. dollars. Currency swap deals are set to foster trade and investment ties even further.
Agreements with China and other BRICS nations are considered by Egypt as the first step of a long term strategy to gradually remove the U.S. dollar from most of its trade transactions worldwide.
Egypt to discuss promotion of bilateral trade in local currencies with BRICS countries
Egypt to discuss promotion of bilateral trade in local currencies with BRICS countries
The recent weeks have seen several major earthquakes around the world including the 7.9 magnitude quake striking Myanmar on Friday that have killed over 2,000 people.
These seismic events trigger worries among the public over the frequency of the earthquakes while an expert in southwest China's Chengdu City said the recent earthquakes across globe fall within normal range.
"The recent earthquakes, whether in Myanmar, Tonga, or parts of China like Xinjiang or Yunnan, all occurred in well-known seismic zones. These regions are generally expected to experience quakes, and even magnitude 7 or above events fall within the normal range. Statistically, the frequency and strength of earthquakes we've seen so far this year are consistent with previous years," said Wang Yun, director of the Natural Disaster Early Warning Research Center at Sichuan University in a video interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN).
Wang said the reason why people perceive an increase in earthquake frequency recently is they are exposed to earthquake-related news especially when the devastating Myanmar earthquake have already caught their attentions.
"Nowadays, people are more exposed to news of disasters, especially when a deadly quake like Myanmar's makes headlines. People's increased awareness also makes them more sensitive to seismic news," he said.
According to Xu Xiwei, a professor from the Beijing-based China University of Geosciences, whether earthquakes are frequent or whether the earth has entered a seismically active period cannot be determined by human perception or the number of small to moderate earthquakes.
The frequency of earthquakes should be assessed by comparing it to the normal average value of earthquake frequency and energy release in a specific region or globally over a certain period, Xu said in a phone interview with China Central Television (CCTV).
Citing earthquake statistics since 1900, Xu noted that over the past century, the world has experienced an average of 150 earthquakes of magnitude six or above, 18 earthquakes of magnitude seven or above, and one earthquake of magnitude eight per year.
From a statistical perspective, the 17 earthquakes of magnitude six or above recorded worldwide so far this year are insufficient to indicate that the world has entered a seismically active or frequent period, he added.
Recent earthquakes across globe fall within normal range: expert
