BRICS Bank to start lending soon: Brazil
July 5, 2014, 6:09 am

From left, Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff gestures to India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, China’s President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma as they gather for a group photo after a BRICS leaders’ meeting at the G-20 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013 [AP]

“The BRICS bank should become operational within 1 or 2 years, depending on the legislative approval process,” said Flávio Soares Damico, Director of the Interregional Mechanisms at the Ministry of External Relations on Friday.

Developing nations have long complained that the World Bank and International Monetary Fund are failing to address underdevelopment and Western nations have too much say over the management of these institutions.

All the BRICS nations apart from Brazil have bid to host the new Bank. The five countries are negotiating to fund the $100 billion development effort equally.

The influence of these emerging economies in the global financial architecture as well as global politics is growing.

The five BRICS countries represent almost three billion people, with a combined nominal GDP of $16 trillion and an estimated $4 trillion in combined foreign reserves.

“We had a big jump in participation of BRICS in global exports, currently reaches more than 17%,” Damico told TV Nacional Brasil.

The BRICS foreign Ministers met in the Hague earlier this year to discuss economic ties as well as the Ukraine crisis. BRICS slammed recent attempts to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin or to place any restrictions on his participation at the G-20 summit in Australia later this year.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the BRICS summit in Brazil should focus on promoting two major projects — the development bank and an emergency reserve — and sending out signals of confidence, unity and cooperation.

Meanwhile, according to Ambassador Graça Lima, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs at the Ministry of External Relations, one of the goals of the 6th BRICS Summit will highlight the role that the five countries have played in achieving the “Millennium Goals”, “both in their countries as in others, either through economic growth itself, or by means of inclusive social policies implemented by their governments.”

As part of a BRICS outreach strategy to emerging economies, a working session will be held on 16^th July between the heads of states of BRICS and their counterparts from the governments of South American nations. Argentina had expressed interest in joining the powerful bloc, although BRICS have ruled out expansion of the group for now.

 TBP