Egypt has formally applied to join the five-member BRICS bloc of emerging economies, said the Russian ambassador in Cairo, Georgy Borisenko.

"Egypt applied to join the BRICS group because one of the initiatives that BRICS is currently engaged in is the maximum transfer of trade to alternative currencies, either national or the creation of some kind of common currency. Egypt is very interested in that," said Borisenko.

The BRICS are made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

In June, the foreign ministers of the BRICS member countries met in Cape Town, which was also attended by diplomats from 12 other countries, including Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The BRICS have sought to expand their membership, as many experts predict that the bloc will dominate the world economy by 2050.

Egypt's road to de-dollarization

The scenario comes after Egypt joined the BRICS bank, the New Development Bank (NDB). Egyptian lawmakers welcomed the agreement in January, saying it could help the crisis-hit country reduce demand for US dollars.

The call to abandon the dollar in the settlement of foreign trade has been growing with more countries joining the alliance. Egypt was the latest country to abandon the American currency in trade with several member countries of the BRICS economic bloc.

On Tuesday, Egyptian Trade Minister Ali Moselhy said that the cash-strapped country is trying to pay for imports from India, China and Russia in their local currencies instead of the US dollar.

"None of this has been implemented, but there are discussions so that we can trade in the local currencies of countries like India, Russia or China," said Egyptian Supply Minister Ali Moselhy.

This comes at a time when Egypt is trying to stabilize its economy, after last year's Russian invasion of Ukraine shook its tourism industry, increased commodity prices and led foreign investors to withdraw around 20 billion dollars from its financial markets.

Inflation has risen sharply over the past year in Egypt, following a series of currency devaluations, a prolonged shortage of foreign currency and continuous delays in imports entering the country.