BRICS dollar alternatives no longer a ‘fantasy,’ economist O’Neill says

Jim O'Neill, the economist who coined the term "BRIC" in 2001 while at Goldman Sachs ↗ 2.07%, has shifted his stance on the bloc's ability to develop alternatives to the U.S. dollar, telling Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ↘ 4.64% that recent advances in payment technologies have changed his assessment.finance.yahoo+2

"About 18 months ago, if you would have quizzed me about all of this, I would have said it's a fantasy, the idea that the BRICS countries can come up with an alternative," O'Neill said in the interview published on Monday.finance.yahoo

Payment Infrastructure Takes Shape

The BRICS grouping has been pursuing several parallel tracks to reduce dependence on dollar-based payment systems. These include the BRICS Pay platform initiative, efforts to link existing domestic payment systems such as India's Unified Payments Interface, China's Cross-Border Interbank Payment System, and Brazil's PIX, as well as exploring the potential future use of central bank digital currencies.cnbcafrica+1

The domestic systems underpinning these efforts have matured rapidly. Brazil's PIX processed 79.7 billion transactions in 2025, with 93 percent of Brazilian adults now using the platform. India is set to host a BRICS summit later this year where a payment system built on interoperable CBDCs is expected to be a key agenda item.asiatimes+1

The proposed architecture would allow cross-border payments to be settled directly in national currencies without passing through correspondent banks or the dollar-centric SWIFT network, offering faster settlement, lower transaction costs, and reduced exposure to sanctions.asiatimes

Political Hurdles Persist

Despite O'Neill's revised outlook, he acknowledged that political and economic misalignment among BRICS members remains a key obstacle. The bloc, which has expanded beyond its original four members to include nations with divergent economic interests and governance models, faces the challenge of coordinating monetary infrastructure across vastly different political systems.cnbcafrica+1

The discussion also unfolds against the backdrop of pressure from Washington. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened 100 percent tariffs against any BRICS nation that attempts to replace the dollar, declaring in January 2025 that "there is no chance BRICS will replace the U.S. dollar in international trade."reuters

O'Neill, now a member of the House of Lords, has written in Project Syndicate that he has "grown more open to the idea of a common currency that could serve as an alternative to the dollar." The current BRICS approach, however, does not seek to create a single currency but rather to build alternative payment rails that allow trade to bypass dollar intermediation — a distinction that may prove more achievable than the grander ambitions that O'Neill once dismissed.project-syndicate+1