JOHANNESBURG, July 20 (Reuters) - A BRICS currency will not be on the agenda of the bloc's summit in South Africa next month, but Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will continue to switch away from the U.S. dollar, South Africa's senior BRICS diplomat said on Thursday. "There's never been talk of a BRICS currency, it's not on the agenda," Anil Sooklal, South Africa's Ambassador at Large: Asia and BRICS, told a media briefing. "What we have said and we continue to deepen is trading in local currencies and settlement in local currencies." This has pushed countries to find alternatives to the dollar, especially among non-U.S. allies. "BRICS started a process that has been expedited as a result of the conflict, as a result of unilateral sanctions," Sooklal said.

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Persons: There's, it's, Anil Sooklal, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Sergei Lavrov, BRICS, Sooklal, Rachel Savage, Carien du Plessis, Tim Cocks, Angus MacSwan Organizations: U.S ., South, Thomson Locations: JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South, Asia, Russian, Ukraine, U.S