The BRICS nations are expected to play important role in reforming the international monetary and financial system, a financial expert said in Beijing on Friday.
The 16th BRICS Summit was held from Tuesday to Thursday in Kazan, Russia. Following the summit, BRICS leaders issued a joint declaration covering a wide range of issues.
In the declaration, the BRICS countries called for the reform of the Bretton Woods system to enhance the representation of emerging markets and developing countries.
Liu Ge, a senior researcher at Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of the Renmin University of China, emphasized the necessity for reform to meet the needs of more countries.
"One of the key consensus reached in Kazan among the member countries is that the Bretton Woods system, which dominated the global financial architecture, was relatively lacking in inclusivity and, to some extent, fairness. Therefore, the framework needs reform," said Liu.
The Bretton Woods system, established in 1944, served as a cornerstone of the post-World War II global economic framework.
According to Liu, during that period, the global economy was dominated by Western countries.
"After years of development, the BRICS countries now hold a significantly different position in the global economic landscape compared to the past. The previous framework lacked inclusivity and failed to address the new requirements of these nations. Hence, reform is essential, which starts from the details. The New Development Bank is a beginning in this process," said Liu.
"The New Development Bank is currently engaged in investments across member countries, with a key focus on promoting local currency settlements. For instance, China and Brazil established a framework for local currency settlements in 2023. With the first payment made in Renminbi, this marks a crucial starting point—a small step that holds significant importance for the reform of the entire international financial system," said Liu.
BRICS nations poised to enhance int'l monetary and financial system: expert
Real-time payments and digital currencies define the future of transaction banking, said an executive from the Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) Banking Group.
Hari Janakirama, head of the Industry and Innovation Transaction Banking of ANZ, made the remarks in an interview with China Global Television Network on Thursday while attending the Swift International Banker's Operation Seminar 2024 (Sibos 2024) in Beijing.
The four-day Sibos 2024 financial services forum, which concluded in Beijing on Thursday, gathered nearly 10,000 participants from over 150 countries and regions to discuss banking and payments, technology and innovation, and environmental, social and governance strategies.
"There are a few themes which are coming up when it comes to latest in transaction banking. Most of them border on the concept of real-time economy, real-time everything, so real time, freshly, real-time payments, real-time liquidity. And now, what real time means will depend on what customer segment you are talking about. So if you're talking about an individual customer, like you and me sending money overseas, for example, real time is I just wanted to happen. Many of the Asian countries in the Asia Pacific, as an example, have their domestic real-time payments network. And efforts are underway to connect these payment networks so that if you are able to make a domestic payment in real time in your country, you should be able to do the same thing when you are sending a payment to the country, neighboring country. So that is happening for consumers. And eventually that will happen for business," said Janakirama.
"The other theme which is coming on to that is digital currencies and digital assets where convergence of multiple platforms where you have a platform which enables the transfer of ownership of an asset or a property, whatever it may be. And the payment which happens separately, they are converging together to make it happen at the same time. So it is more cost efficient, more faster and more transparent for the consumer. These are specific themes which are coming up in transaction banking. And all of this is underpinned by better data access to better data, more enriched data," he said.
In the interview, Janakirama also applauded the innovative development of China's digital economy which has exerted a positive impact on the banking sector.
China's digital yuan transactions amounted to 7 trillion yuan (about 986.07 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of June this year, according to the central bank.
Real-time payments, digital currencies define future of transaction banking: executive of ANZ Banking Group
