New Delhi, Sept. 10 -- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva during the BRICS Leaders' Press Conference, Johannesburg, 24 August 2023, stated "We also approved the creation of a working group to study a BRICS reference currency. This measure may increase our payment options and reduce our vulnerabilities." However, the XV BRICS Summit Johannesburg II Declaration completely changes the narrative as it tells a different story. Released at the same summit, it instead stated "We task our Finance Ministers and/or Central Bank Governors, as appropriate, to consider the issue of local currencies, payment instruments and platforms".

The shift from "BRICS reference currency" to "local currencies" indicates the ideology that the founding m...