China, Brazil signing self-currency trade deal

The move will take almost half of their trade exchanges out of the US dollar zone

China and Brazil plan to sign a deal to do up to $30 billion of trade in their local currencies, as the five-nation BRICS forum of emerging market powers work to lessen dependence on the dollar and euro.     

The agreement is to be signed on Tuesday ahead of the official opening of a summit bringing together the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and more than a dozen other African leaders.     

Brazil's foreign trade minister Fernando Pimentel says the agreement would involve nearly half his country's Rs 75 billion annual trade with China.     

The World Bank says that global economic growth increasingly depends on the BRICS countries which account for 27 per cent of global purchasing power and include 45 per cent of the world's workforce.