The BRICS Countries’ Initiatives for Transforming the International Monetary and Financial System

The global economic importance of the BRICS is not proportionally reflected in the International Monetary and Financial System (IMFS), since 88% of foreign exchange transactions still involve the US dollar, while the sum of all BRICS currencies does not reach 15%. Questions regarding the dollar’s hegemony are old, but they have intensified in the 21st century. In this new context of intense debate around dedollarization, the aim of this article is to analyze the BRICS’ initiatives related to the IMFS. More specifically, it examines the group’s initiatives to provoke (or accelerate) transformations within the IMFS, focusing on the scope and limits of these actions, as well as the opportunities presented by the current economic and geopolitical landscape. Ultimately, the article seeks to contribute to discussions on the configuration of an IMFS that is functional in addressing the challenges characteristic of the global majority. The article concludes that there is no reason to predict that BRICS initiatives will lead to the dethroning of the dollar as the world’s key currency in the near future. However, there are some ongoing movements that could culminate in a transformation of the IMFS: i) a change in the role of some countries in the world economy; ii) growing geopolitical tensions between global powers; iii) the distrust of the dollar generated by the Trump administration, and the political willingness of a wide range of countries to, individually or in concert, reduce their dependence on the dollar. The outcome of these movements is completely unpredictable, but there is no doubt that this is an opportune moment to reinforce actions aimed at reducing dependence on the dollar. History shows that significant transformations in the IMFS are infrequent and slow, but the author of this study’s perception is that the BRICS are still not reaching their potential to contribute to such transformations.