Putin: BRICS countries not yet creating own settlement system, as current tools suffice

KAZAN. Oct 24 (Interfax) - The BRICS countries are not yet creating an alternative settlement system to SWIFT, as the current tools suffice, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters.

"As for SWIFT or some alternatives, we have not created and are not creating any alternatives for anything, but nevertheless the issue is very important today, and one of the key problems is the problem of settlements, therefore, we are following the path of using national currencies," Putin said at a press conference following the 16th BRICS summit in Kazan.

He said the Financial Messaging System (FMS) created by the Central Bank of Russia is already in use. "Other BRICS member states also have their own systems. We will use them too, we have already been using them, and we will advance this interaction, but we are not inventing a separate joint system yet. In essence, what we have is sufficient, [and] we simply need to make the appropriate decisions at the administrative level in a timely manner. We have also discussed this with our colleagues and we will be going down this path," Putin said.