Putin: BRICS contributes more to world economy than G7

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that the contribution of G7 countries to global economic growth is lower than the contribution of BRICS, AzerNEWS reports. "If you look at the dynamics of global GDP [gross domestic product] growth over the past five years, BRICS countries account for 49%, while the G7's contribution is 18%," Putin said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF). He emphasized that the gap is increasing and that the organization's economic growth is expected to expand at a "steady pace." "The internal trade turnover of BRICS already exceeds $1 trillion per year," he added. In addition, the Russian head of state noted that the global trade system is no longer "western-centric." "The world is experiencing its largest structural transformation in decades, while the financial architecture that dominated the previous era was increasingly used as a tool of unfair competition," he elaborated.