Brazilian President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva questioned why the U.S. Dollar is the primary currency used for global trade.
Lula,
who made the comments while on a state visit to China, also criticized
the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for "asphyxiating" developing
countries during debt negotiations.
- Lula asked why "every country should have to be tied to the [U.S.] dollar for trade," and suggested that the New Development Bank could "have a currency to finance trade" between Brazil and other BRICS countries.
- The
BRICS alliance of emerging economies, which includes Brazil, Russia,
India, China, and South Africa, created the bank in 2014 as an
alternative to the IMF and the World Bank.
- Lula criticized the
dominance of the Dollar, suggesting that countries should try to export
their own currencies instead of "chas[ing] dollars to export."
- He
said the IMF is currently "asphyxiating" Argentina's economy "the way
they did with Brazil for a long time and every third-world country" in
the past.
- BRICS and other developing economies have called for de-dollarization in recent years.
- Earlier this year, Brazil and Argentina suggested that they could work together to establish a new regional currency.
