BRICS Financial Assets Surpass $60 Trillion, Minister Highlights Infrastructure Investment

The financial assets of the BRICS countries have surpassed $60 trillion, according to Russia’s finance minister, who highlighted this figure during a meeting with colleagues in Brazil. This significant milestone underscores the growing economic influence of the BRICS nations, which include Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The minister emphasized the importance of boosting investments in infrastructure and raising more capital, including through digital means, to ensure stable capital inflows in the long run.

The financial assets of the BRICS member states now exceed $60 trillion, as announced by Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov during a meeting of the Board of Governors of the group’s New Development Bank in Rio de Janeiro. Siluanov noted 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%. He stressed that the total volume of financial assets reached more than $60 trillion, which is over 50% of the global level.

Founded almost 20 years ago by Brazil, Russia, India, and China, and later joined by South Africa, BRICS has established itself as a key intergovernmental platform for cooperation between emerging markets. The 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.

Siluanov 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. 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 that the BRICS countries are discussing 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 that cooperation in the AI areas is necessary. The NDB should be the leader in this area, pooling the efforts of the BRICS countries.

While Siluanov touched on several important topics, BRICS leaders and NDB executives have a number of other issues to discuss, including the organization’s response to current global challenges. 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.