- By: Zarar Sheikh
The bloc of BRICS countries, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, expanded to another five countries :Egypt, Ethiopa, Iran, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, on the first day of the New Year 2024.
And it is expected that more emerging economies are queueing up to join the group as full members, although no time frame has been given for that. With the addition of the new five members, BRICS would now account for 45% of the world population, 44% of crude oil production and close to 30% of world GDP.
I believe this new development, even though it was expected, is without doubt an event of major consequence in the geo-political global scenario. In terms of its economic impact, the americam dollar is likely to be hardest hit in maintaining its dominant position of being the supreme reserve currency in the world. This is especially so because one of the primary declared objectives of this group, is to switch to local currencies while trading among members states. If these countries, which control a big chunk of crude oil production, dump the American dollar in favor of other countries, it is likely to have a huge impact on the hegemony of the dollar.
Let’s see how the situation unfolds from here.