Issue of common BRICS currency not under consideration now, time has not come yet - Putin

NOVO-OGARYOVO. Oct 18 (Interfax) - The BRICS state are currently not ready for the creation of a common currency due to differences in the structure and quality of the economies of the member states, one can go back to this issue later, but now one should focus on the use of the national currencies, new financial instruments and the creation of an analogue of SWIFT, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"As for a common BRICS currency, we are currently not considering this issue. The time has not come yet," he said at a meeting with representatives of the media of the BRICS member states.

The BRICS states "need to be very careful" and "work gradually, without haste," the president said. "The economies by their structure, effectiveness, they should be approximately equal, or we will have the same problems, even more than the problems that arose in the European Union, when a common currency was introduced for those countries whose economic levels were comparable," Putin said.

"We are now studying the possibility of expanding the use of the national currencies and creation of instruments that would make such work safe," he said.

In particular, the BRICS states are considering the possibility of using electronic instruments, he said.

The Russian president also said it is necessary to "establish relations between the central banks and ensure reliable exchange of financial information that is independent of those international instruments of international information exchange that introduce certain restrictions for political reasons and violate the principles of global economy." He said he was referring to the formation in BRICS of an analogue of SWIFT, something that "ensures international settlements."