R. Suryamurthy
Finance Ministers and central bank governors from the expanded BRICS grouping have laid out an ambitious agenda to shield emerging and developing economies from rising trade protectionism, financial fragmentation and debt pressures, while seeking to reshape global economic governance around the growing weight of the Global South.
The agenda, emerging from meetings in Jaipur on August 12–13 and concluding in Mumbai on September 10, goes beyond calls for reform of existing institutions. It sets out a series of practical initiatives on cross-border payments, local-currency settlements, development finance, investment guarantees, taxation, customs enforcement, cyber resilience and financial technology that could determine how far BRICS can translate its growing economic weight into institutional influence.
The push comes under India’s 2026 BRICS chairship theme of “Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability”, with financial leaders positioning the grouping as a platform for reducing vulnerabilities created by an increasingly fragmented global economy.
At the centre of the Joint Statement was a direct challenge to unilateral trade and financial measures, including tariff increases and non-tariff barriers that BRICS said distort trade and undermine World Trade Organisation principles.
The bloc reaffirmed its support for a rules-based, non-discriminatory multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core, a position that is likely to remain central as members confront higher trade barriers and growing pressure to diversify supply chains and trading relationships.
But the more consequential battle could be over the institutions governing global finance.
Push for IMF and World Bank reform
BRICS finance leaders renewed their demand for a greater voice for emerging markets and developing economies in the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, arguing that existing voting and shareholding structures do not adequately reflect shifts in global economic power.
They called for the swift implementation of the 16th General Review of Quotas and early quota realignment under the 17th review, while stressing that greater representation for emerging economies should not come at the expense of the poorest countries.
They also opposed a system in which voluntary financial contributions determine voting power or governance representation, reinforcing their argument that institutional influence should be based on broader economic realities rather than the ability of individual countries to provide additional funding.
The bloc reaffirmed support for the 2025 World Bank Shareholding Review and the application of the Lima Principles to address the historic underrepresentation of developing countries.
It also repeated calls for transparent, merit-based selection of senior IMF and World Bank leadership, with greater regional diversity.
The significance of these demands lies less in their immediate prospect of institutional change than in the pressure BRICS is seeking to build ahead of future negotiations. The grouping is effectively arguing that reforms to the global financial system can no longer be separated from the changing distribution of economic activity.
From declarations to financial infrastructure
India’s chairship also sought to give the financial track a more operational character.
The proposed BRICS-NDB Knowledge Portal, developed with the New Development Bank (NDB), is intended to create a common repository of development experience, project outcomes and policy innovations.
More importantly, the NDB is moving ahead with a pilot BRICS Multilateral Guarantees initiative designed to reduce risks associated with sustainable infrastructure and development projects and attract greater private-sector capital.
For developing economies facing high financing costs, guarantees could prove more consequential than declarations if they eventually reduce risk premiums and make infrastructure projects financially viable.
The bloc has also agreed to establish a Study Group for a proposed New Investment Platform, building on initial guidelines developed during Brazil’s chairship. The objective is to work towards a phased, consensus-based investment framework.
Its eventual effectiveness will depend on whether BRICS can move beyond institutional design and create a platform capable of mobilising actual cross-border investment at competitive costs.
Payments emerge as a strategic priority
Cross-border payments remain one of the most closely watched areas of BRICS financial cooperation.
The BRICS Payment Task Force has advanced discussions on interoperability between payment and messaging systems and on mechanisms that could facilitate greater use of local currencies in trade.
The objective is not simply to create an alternative payment mechanism but to make cross-border transactions faster, cheaper and safer while allowing individual members to determine the pace and form of participation.
That distinction could prove important.
Rather than pursuing a single BRICS-wide monetary system, the emerging approach focuses on connecting existing national payment infrastructures and developing bilateral or multilateral corridors for local-currency transactions.
If implemented successfully, such systems could gradually reduce transaction costs and some exposure to external currency volatility. But their success will ultimately depend on interoperability, liquidity, regulatory coordination, settlement arrangements and confidence among participating financial institutions.
The financial leaders also advanced amendments to the BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement, seeking to make the emergency financial safety net more flexible during periods of crisis. Further testing and discussions on the possible inclusion of new members are expected.
GIFT City positioned as financial risk hub
India is also seeking to expand BRICS cooperation in insurance and reinsurance through a proposed BRICS Risk Lab at GIFT City International Financial Services Centre.
The initiative reflects a broader recognition that infrastructure investment cannot be separated from the availability of affordable risk coverage.
For developing economies exposed to climate disasters, supply-chain disruptions and infrastructure risks, deeper insurance and reinsurance capacity could help lower the cost of capital and improve the bankability of large projects.
If developed into a functioning regional platform, GIFT City could emerge as one of the institutional nodes through which BRICS attempts to build a more self-reliant financial ecosystem.
Tax and customs cooperation moves up the agenda
The financial track is also expanding into areas that directly affect the cost and transparency of international commerce.
Following the first BRICS Joint Customs Enforcement Operation, members gave in-principle approval to a Customs Mutual Administrative Assistance Agreement and urged implementation of the BRICS Authorised Economic Operator Action Plan 2026.
The objective is to strengthen information sharing and enforcement while reducing friction for legitimate businesses operating across borders.
Tax cooperation is moving in parallel, with new working groups covering international taxation, transfer pricing and revenue statistics. The BRICS Tax Cross-Learning Lab and BRICS Women in Tax Network are intended to deepen institutional capacity and exchange between member administrations.
Such initiatives could become increasingly important as governments compete for investment while attempting to prevent profit shifting, illicit financial flows and revenue leakage.
Cybersecurity and AI become financial priorities
The financial system’s growing dependence on digital infrastructure has also pushed cyber resilience higher on the BRICS agenda.
Following the third annual BRICS Cyber Exercise and Drills, central banks agreed to conduct annual cyber exercises through the BRICS Rapid Information Security Channel.
The grouping has simultaneously begun examining the implications of artificial intelligence and quantum computing for financial systems.
An emerging-economy-focused approach to AI in finance could become particularly important as BRICS members attempt to expand digital financial services without importing regulatory frameworks designed primarily for advanced economies.
Quantum computing, meanwhile, presents a longer-term challenge, potentially affecting encryption, payment security and financial risk management.
NDB expected to become a bigger instrument
The New Development Bank is expected to remain one of the most important institutional vehicles for translating the BRICS agenda into projects.
Finance leaders expressed strong support for the bank as it enters what they described as its “second golden decade”, highlighting its expansion of membership, increased local-currency financing and project-preparation capabilities.
The direction is significant because the NDB provides BRICS with something that declarations alone cannot: an institution capable of financing physical infrastructure and development projects.
Its future influence, however, will depend on the scale of lending, its ability to mobilise private capital, the depth of its local-currency financing and the speed with which it can prepare and approve projects.
China inherits the unfinished agenda
The next test will be implementation.
With India’s chairship nearing its conclusion, China is due to take over the BRICS chair in 2027. The transition comes with a substantial unfinished agenda: making payment systems interoperable, advancing local-currency settlements, operationalising investment and guarantee mechanisms, strengthening the CRA, expanding NDB financing and sustaining the campaign for IMF and World Bank reform.
The enlarged BRICS grouping will also have to confront an underlying challenge: translating political consensus among diverse economies into institutions that businesses, banks and investors actually use.
That will require more than communiques.
The effectiveness of the financial agenda will ultimately be judged by whether BRICS can lower transaction and financing costs, expand investment flows, improve crisis resilience and give emerging economies greater influence in institutions that still shape the global financial system.
For now, the 2026 meetings have provided a roadmap. The China chairship will face the harder task of turning that roadmap into functioning financial infrastructure.