India ready for study on common currency of BRICS countries

Mumbai: India has decided to study the proposal of putting the common currency of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries in circulation like Euro. Government sources said that some policymakers have been tasked for this. India and Russia, excluding China, can agree on a common currency system or discuss it. The step of conducting this study before the next conference of BRICS countries will be very important.

Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said last year that common currency is not possible.

He also gave some reasons for this. The main reason is that the economic and political profiles of China and India are quite opposite. India's relations with China have also been strained recently.

Although this concern has not gone away, Russia has initiated renewed talks with India on the issue. Sources said that Russia wants to ease the impact of sanctions imposed by Western countries and that is why it wants a common currency of BRICS.

Sources also added that India has not changed its view but there is no harm in studying.

The government had approached the Reserve Bank for a vote on what kind of arguments could be made and the Reserve Bank is believed to have told the government that a comprehensive study should be done on the common currency before voting.

It is in view of this fact that the government has decided to assign the work to some policy makers.

Considering China's presence in the World Bank or Asian Development Bank, the government has decided not to include such global agencies in its study. The first proposal for a common currency came in April last year.

Global sources also emphasized that the common currency of the BRICS countries is becoming important considering that the dominance of the dollar in the global trade is continuously increasing.