BRICS has lost relevance as economic grouping, says Standard & Poor's

• Global rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has said that Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) as economic grouping has lost relevance due to diverging long-term economic trajectory
• The better-than-projected economic performance of China and India over the past two decades contrasts with disappointing results in Brazil, Russia, and South Africa
• China and India have maintained stable pro-growth economic policies and have gained a larger role in the world economy 
• In contrast, the comparatively poor long-term performance of the other three countries has diminished their global economic role 
• All the five have very low foreign currency borrowing in either public or private sectors
• Brazil and India both have the weakest fiscal and debt profile, followed by South Africa. Russia’s fiscal and debt profile is slightly better than that of China 
• The rating agency maintains a favourable or neutral assessment of monetary flexibility for all the five countrie