Eminent US economist professor Jeffrey Sachs said the emergence of the BRICS grouping came in response to the United States weaponising the global US dollar-based monetary system to unilaterally sanction countries deemed as its adversaries.
He also criticised the US government for confiscating the reserves of various countries. “The US confiscated the reserves of Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, Afghanistan, and in March 2022, it confiscated US$300 billion (RM1.4 trillion) of Russian assets.
“The BRICS countries said this is ridiculous! Why are we using US banks if they are just going to take our money away?” he said when responding to a question after his lecture on “UN 2.0 for Peace and Financial Market Transformation for Sustainable Development” at Sunway University yesterday.
“If the world was running as it should, we wouldn’t have BRICS, as it is a reaction to the misuse of international payments and finance, and monetary settlements,” he said.
He also questioned why the US should dominate the international financial system if it abuses the privilege of other countries using the US dollar.
“Now, other countries don’t want to be left to the vagaries of US policy. And they want to have good relations with China, India and other BRICS countries. “So, I can understand why Malaysia and Thailand say they want to join BRICS. In fact, the list comprises about 30 more countries (wanting to join BRICS),” said Sachs, 69, a professor at Columbia University who serves as director of its Center for Sustainable Development.
Prior to that, he was a professor at Harvard University for over 20 years. He also holds the distinction of serving as special adviser to three UN secretaries-general: Kofi Annan, Ban Ki-moon and António Guterres. In addition, Sachs has acted as economic adviser to various governments in Latin America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Sachs also said he had reached out to top officials in the US administration over the issue. “I said to my friends in the US government – why are you doing this?
“Who will use the dollar if you keep taking other people’s money? Money is useful if you can use it. It is a store of value, but not if you confiscate it.”
He pointed out that the expanded BRICS grouping has about 36% of the world’s economic output in contrast to 29% for the G7, consisting of the US and its key allies.
“So, BRICS is the larger group, and it has nearly 50% of the world’s population. It’s a very significant grouping,” he added.
BRICS, founded in 2009, comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. It expanded in January 2024, when Iran, the UAE, Egypt, and Ethiopia joined as new members.
Thailand announced in May that it will apply to join the grouping, while Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim confirmed Malaysia’s intention to join the bloc in an interview with Chinese media outlet Guancha last month.
Malaysia’s decision to join BRICS suggests that Asean nations are hedging their bets to “de-dollarise” given that Washington has weaponised the US dollar through the increasing use of sanctions.
In the interview with Guancha, Anwar backed comments by Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva criticising the dominance of the US dollar in international trade.
Anwar has also said that Malaysia should explore de-dollarisation, and has supported the idea of an Asian Monetary Fund.
The public lecture was organised by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network and Institute for Advanced Studies of Universiti Malaya.
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