Editor's note: Decision Makers is a global platform for decision makers to share their insights on events shaping today's world. Paulo Nogueira Batista Jr., a Brazilian economist, is the former vice president of the New Development Bank and former executive director for Brazil and other countries in the International Monetary Fund. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.编者按：决策者是一个全球平台，供决策者分享他们对影响当今世界之事件的见解。巴西经济学家保罗·诺盖拉·巴蒂斯塔曾任金砖国家新开发银行副行长，代表巴西和其他十国担任国际货币基金组织执行董事。文章仅代表作者的观点，并不代表本台观点。
The possible creation of a currency by BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) has been frequently mentioned in the international media. The discussion has not been officially launched yet, but it should be present, in some form, at the summit of BRICS leaders that will take place in South Africa from August 22 to 24.近期，国际媒体热议金砖五国（巴西、俄罗斯、印度、中国和南非）或将推出共同货币。尽管此前此话题尚未正式讨论，但预计在8月22日至24日于南非举行的金砖国家领导人峰会上，共同货币或将成为主要议题之一。The background to this possible BRICS currency is the growing dysfunctionality of the international monetary system that, since World War II, has been based on the U.S. dollar. Its fundamental contradiction is that the international system depends predominantly on a national currency, managed according to the interests of the state that created it. However, nothing guarantees that U.S. priorities coincide with the broader interests of the international system that depends on the dollar.自二战结束以来，以美元为基础的国际货币体系日趋紊乱。当前国际货币体系的根本矛盾在于过于依赖单一国家的货币，而该货币的管理完全服务于货币发行国的国家利益。但问题在于，谁也无法保证美国的核心利益与依赖美元的国际体系的利益始终一致。More recently, the U.S. has been using its currency more and more aggressively to pursue political and geopolitical goals. The weaponization of the dollar, as well as of the euro, has been taking place – that is, the use of the national/international currency and of the Western financial system to target hostile countries or countries seen as hostile. Russia has been the latest target. 近年来，美国愈发积极地将美元作为其追求政治和地缘政治目标的工具。美元和欧元被“武器化”，即利用国家/国际货币及西方金融体系，针对敌对国家或被西方视为敌对的国家。俄罗斯就是其最新目标。Around $300 billion of Russia's reserves invested in dollars and euros were simply frozen. Needless to say, the weaponization of the dollar has caused an erosion of confidence – and confidence is an indispensable requirement for any currency. In one sentence: The United States has become paradoxically the main enemy of the dollar as a world currency.俄罗斯约3000亿美元和欧元外汇储备遭到冻结。显然，美元武器化严重削弱了世界各国对美元的信任，而信任是所有国际货币流通的必要条件。简言之：美国自己似乎已成为美元全球货币地位的威胁者。What paths could be taken towards a possible BRICS currency? The terrain is new for BRICS, and still unexplored by us. Only a few aspects will be addressed in this article, without attempting to present detailed proposals.那么金砖国家的共同货币应该如何创建呢？对于金砖国家来说，这是一片未知领域，还有待探索。本文仅从宏观角度分析此话题，不提出具体建议。A curiosity: Russian officials noticed the following happy coincidence: the currencies of the five BRICS countries all start with the letter "R" – real, ruble, rupee, renminbi, and rand. They then proposed that the new currency be called R5. 先看一个有趣的事实：俄罗斯官员注意到金砖五国货币名称的英文首字母都是“R”—— 雷亚尔(real)、卢布(ruble)、卢比(rupee)、人民币(renminbi)和兰特(rand)。因此，他们提议新货币命名为R5。The R5 would start as a unit of account, taking the form of a basket of the five currencies.R5将首先用作计价单位，以金砖五国货币为基础建立一个“货币篮子”。In this first stage, the R5 could be used as a unit of denomination for certain transactions and national official accounting records in addition to being adopted to replace the dollar in the internal accounting of the financial mechanisms created by BRICS – the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement. This step is relatively simple and – if there is consensus among the five countries – could be implemented quickly and without significant costs.在起步阶段，R5可以用作某些交易和国家官方账户记录的计价单位，并在新开发银行和应急储备安排等金砖国家创建的金融机构内，替代记账过程中使用的美元。这一步相对简单，如果五个国家能达成共识，可以迅速且低成本地实施。The Russian proposal, as far as I know, does not go much further than this initial step. From here, there is vague talk of backing the R5 with gold or other commodities.据我所知，俄罗斯的提议暂时还停留在这一阶段。在此基础上，人们已经开始设想，能否用黄金或其他大宗商品作为R5的价值锚。
As is well known, a currency has to exercise not only the functions of a unit of account, but also those of a store of value and a means of payment. How could we ensure that the R5 would be able to fulfill all these functions? Who would be responsible for issuing the R5 and putting it into circulation? Would the R5 have a physical existence or would it only be digital? Would it be necessary to create a BRICS Central Bank and unify monetary policy? Would the R5 inspire confidence? 众所周知，货币扮演的角色远不止于计价单位，它还是价值储存与支付的工具。那么，我们如何确保R5能满足这些功能？谁负责发行R5并使其流通？R5是否有实物货币，还是仅为数字货币？是否有必要创建金砖国家中央银行并统一货币政策？R5能否获得人们的信赖？Let us briefly address some of these points. 接下来，我将浅析这些问题。First, it is not necessary for the R5 to have a physical existence. It could just be digital. Nor would it be necessary or even recommended to create a Central Bank of BRICS responsible for conducting monetary policy for the five countries, something impracticable for several reasons. 首先，R5不必有实物形态，完全可以是数字货币。另外，没有必要，也不建议，为金砖五国创建一个负责货币政策的金砖国家中央银行，因为这在许多方面都是不现实的。In other words, the purpose could not be to create a single currency that would replace the five national currencies. It would be enough to create an Issuing Bank in charge of issuing R5 according to predetermined rules without interfering with the actions of the five central banks who would continue to perform all the typical functions of monetary authorities.换言之，我们不以创建一个替代五国货币的单一货币为目的，而应当是创建一家发行银行，按照既定规则发行R5，不干涉金砖五国央行的决策，五国央行将继续发挥其本身的功能。How could the new currency be backed? Backing a currency means basing it on a solid asset, allowing it thereby to achieve widespread acceptance and circulation. For this backing to have real meaning, it is necessary that the backed currency be freely convertible into the backing asset at a fixed exchange rate. 那么新货币如何进行价值锚定呢？价值锚定指的是将货币与某种有价资产挂钩，从而使其获得广泛的接受和流通。为了使这种价值锚定有真正的意义，相关货币必须能以固定汇率自由兑换成与之挂钩的资产。One could conceive the following alternatives to back the R5: first, gold or other precious metals; second, other commodities or a basket of commodities; third, dollars and other internationally liquid currencies; fourth, some sort of financial backing provided by BRICS.关于R5的价值锚定，我们有多种选择：1) 黄金或其他贵金属；2) 其他大宗商品或一篮子商品；3) 美元和其他国际流通货币；4) 金砖国家所提供的金融工具。The first two options could hardly work in practice. The prices of gold, silver and any other commodities fluctuate sharply, leading to unpredictable variations in the value of the BRICS currency. The R5 would reflect the countless circumstances that affect the international gold, silver and commodity markets. It would fluctuate along with gold and other commodities and lose any ability to serve as a benchmark.前两个选项在实践中几乎行不通。黄金、白银和其他商品的价格波动剧烈，会导致金砖国家的货币价值面临不可预测的变化。换句话说，国际金、银和商品价格的影响因素会影响R5的价值。其价值会随着黄金和其他商品的波动而波动，从而失去作为基准货币的功能。The third alternative is the model used in
the case of the IMF’s Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) that are backed by dollars
and other major currencies. This means that SDR holders have the right to
convert them freely into dollars and other currencies with international
liquidity. Such a convertibility model would not be a solution for the
R5.国际货币基金组织的特别提款权（SDR）就采用了第三种模式，锚定美元和其他主要货币，这意味着特别提款权持有者有权将其自由兑换成可全球流通的美元和其他货币。然而，这种兑换模式并不值得R5借鉴。Theoretically, nothing would prevent making it convertible into
internationally liquid currencies. The high international reserves of BRICS
would ensure the R5’s conversion into dollars, euros or yen. But, of course,
that would defeat the whole
purpose of the exercise – a currency created as an alternative to
the dollar would have its acceptance assured by its free convertibility
into…dollars, euros, yen, etc.理论上，没有什么因素能阻碍R5兑换成全球流通货币，因为金砖国家有大量外汇储备，可确保R5兑换为美元、欧元或日元，但这么做显然违背了R5存在的初衷。作为一种旨在替代美元的货币，R5的推广不能取决于其与美元、欧元和日元等货币之间的自由可兑换性。The only feasible alternative would be the fourth one. This would involve making the R5 convertible into bonds guaranteed by the five countries. The R5 Issuing Bank would also be in charge of issuing R5 bonds, denominated in BRICS currency with different maturities and interest rates. The R5 would be freely convertible into R5 bonds. "Backed" by assets created by the Issuing Bank itself, the R5 would actually be a fiduciary currency of the same nature as the dollar and other internationally liquid currencies. The R5 bonds would be the concrete financial expression of the guarantee that the five countries would give to the new currency.唯一可行的是第四种方案，也就是让R5可兑换成金砖五国担保的债券。发行R5的银行还将负责发行以金砖国家货币计价、具有不同期限和利率的R5债券，R5可以自由兑换为R5债券。以发行银行自己创建的资产为锚，R5便成为了一种信用货币，与美元和其他国际流通货币性质相同。R5债券就是金砖五国对新货币的具体担保工具。To advance this complex discussion, the leaders of BRICS – while at the summit that will take place soon – might ask their finance ministers and research institutes to study the matter in a coordinated way and present the results of this work at the summit to be held in 2024 in Russia. They could perhaps recommend setting up a group of experts to assess the convenience and feasibility of creating a BRICS currency. If work proceeds productively, further steps might be taken by the leaders in their next two summits in 2024 and 2025.为深入研究这一复杂议题，金砖国家领导人可能会在即将举行的峰会上，请各国财政部长和研究机构共同探讨这一议题，并于2024年在俄罗斯举行的金砖峰会上介绍工作成果。他们或许还会提议组建专家团队，评估创建金砖国家共同货币的难易程度和可行性。如果工作进展顺利，那么在2024年和2025年的峰会上，金砖国家领导人或将采取进一步行动。