The New Development Bank launched this week in Brazil by the leaders of the Brics countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – is to boost infrastructure and sustainable development projects through loans, guarantees, credits and equity investments.
But the bank’s establishment also enhances another key geoeconomic ambition of the Brics: to conduct more trade in local currencies, thereby diluting the dominance of the US dollar. Already, there is plenty of evidence to underscore the vitality of this ambition.