This allows bilateral trade to be settled in either yuan or rials, with a cap of 50 billion yuan or 26 billion rials. Interestingly, China has also signed a currency swap agreement with Argentina, a country that recently became a BRICS member, earlier this year. Following these recent developments, it's crucial to understand the context. Several countries have indicated their desire to embark on a path towards de-dollarisation, a step particularly advocated by the BRICS countries. Their objective is to develop a diversified and resilient global financial system, which can lead to ppl greater economic self-determination. There is also a strong desire to diminish American hegemony and mitigate the potential impact of U.S. sanctions. This push has gained traction since extensive sanctions have effectively frozen Russia out of the global payment systems. Moscow now, for instance, accepts payments denominated in yuan for oil exports to China, and in rupees for some of its oil exports to India. In March this year, the yuan overtook the dollar for the first time to become the most widely used currency for cross-border transactions in China. The situation in Argentina provides a stark contrast. The newly elected president, Javier Milei, has raised the matter of dollarisation as a potential remedy for the country's disastrous recent economic performance. The Argentine Peso recently plunged to historic lows due to economic mismanagement, multiple defaults, and U.S. dollar scarcity. If this step goes ahead, Argentina would follow the dollarisation route already chosen by Ecuador, El Salvador, and Zimbabwe, amongst others. Countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia, Liberia, and Vietnam have informally dollarised and use the U.S. dollar as a quasi-currency. In contemplating the adoption of the U.S. dollar, nations need to weigh carefully the advantages of economic stability, lower interest rates, and the facilitation of trade against the backdrop of limited monetary policy flexibility, vulnerability to external shocks, and an inherent inability to address trade imbalances. Watch this space. It will be fascinating to see how the two important trends of dollarisation versus de-dollarisation play out in the coming years.