YEKATERINBURG, Russia (Reuters) – The world’s biggest emerging market powers will seek to craft a united front on repairing the global financial system when they meet for the first formal BRIC summit today.
Before the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India and China meet, a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) of Central Asian powers will also underline the growing international stature of China and Russia.
The four BRIC nations — which account for 15 percent of the $60.7 trillion global economy — will focus on ways to reshape the financial system after the economic crisis.
But immediate agreement on practical steps among the members of this loose and untested bloc appears most unlikely.
“These four countries are all quite influential in international economic development, and I think if in the meeting they raise some proposals and initiatives, that would be fair and reasonable,” said Wu Hailong, a senior Chinese Foreign Ministry official.
“Especially, some countries have proposed establishing a super-sovereign currency, and I think their impetus is ensuring the security of each country’s foreign currency reserves.”
inese and Russian officials have in recent days played down talk of a discussion on a new supranational reserve currency to reduce dependency on the US dollar.
