BRICS backs local currency payment talks without choosing a single system

No BRICS currency was launched. The bloc's New Delhi declaration instead recorded continuing work on cross-border payment links and discussions about trade settlement and investment using member currencies.

The payment task force is studying whether national payment and messaging channels can work together. Leaders asked it to keep pursuing transfers that are faster, cheaper, more accessible, transparent and safe.

The declaration also preserves national discretion. It says members have different priorities and that no single approach fits all. That leaves any payment mechanism, currency use and domestic implementation to later negotiations.