BRICS countries hold $60 trillion in financial assets

The financial assets of BRICS countries have surpassed $60 trillion, according to Russia’s finance minister who highlighted the amount at a meeting with colleagues in Brazil.

Moscow attaches importance to boosting investments in infrastructure and raising more capital, including through digital means, the Russian government official indicated.

BRICS nations hold half of global assets

The financial assets of BRICS member states are now exceeding $60 trillion, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov announced during a meeting of the Board of Governors of the group’s New Development Bank in Rio de Janeiro.

“We see that the population of the countries of the Global South stands at almost 70% of the global population and their share in the global gross domestic product is almost 60%,” Siluanov elaborated, quoted by the Russian TASS news agency, and stressed:

“The total volume of financial assets reached more than $60 trillion, that is, over 50% of the global level.”

Founded almost 20 years ago by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, joined later by South Africa, BRICS has established itself as a key intergovernmental platform for cooperation between emerging markets. Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates are now also in the club.

Its Shanghai-headquartered New Development Bank (NDB), formerly known as the BRICS Development Bank, was established to support both public and private projects by providing loans and guarantees and through other financial tools. Siluanov highlighted its important role as a financial institution that many countries can rely on.

“We talk today about the decade of operation of the New Development Bank, the main financial instrument for new investments, for new projects being implemented in our countries – not only in BRICS countries but also in countries of the Global South,” the Russian representative added.

The minister also underscored the importance of increasing investments in infrastructure. He believes a new approach is needed to attract funds that will ensure stable capital inflows in the long run. That includes employing digital financial assets, he noted.

BRICS working on cross-border payments

The countries in the Global South need to build a strong financial market and create infrastructure with seamless capital flows, Anton Siluanov emphasized at the board meeting, noting that those in the BRICS space have been working to achieve that. He also revealed:

“We discuss measures on cross-border payments, development of inter-depositary interaction, establishment of reinsurance capacity, and the launch of credit rating methodology.”

The head of Russia’s Ministry of Finance also spoke about “the need to be in the trend” when it comes to new technologies. In that regard, he pointed to the opportunities presented by the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI).

At the same time, he warned about the risks of increasing inequalities among countries and insisted:

“We, therefore, need to cooperate in the AI areas as actively as possible and the NDB should be the leader in this area, pooling the efforts of our countries.”

While Siluanov touched on several important topics, BRICS leaders and NDB executives have a number of other issues to discuss this weekend, including the organization’s response to current global challenges such as the ongoing clash over trade sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies.

On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that the meeting hosted by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is expected to adopt a joint statement condemning “unilateral protectionist measures” and the “indiscriminate raising” of tariffs which are “not good for the world economy” and development.

The document is not going to explicitly mention the United States, but analysts claim that while trying to avoid direct confrontation with Washington, BRICS is trying to fill the void left by the current U.S. administration and advance its own agenda.

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