BRICS score in Brazil, create new Development Bank
July 15, 2014, 6:39 pm

Heads of state of BRICS, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma met in Fortaleza, Brazil on 15 July 2014 [Xinhua]

The announcement was made after a plenary meet of the five BRICS heads of state in Fortaleza on Tuesday.

Shanghai finally won the bid to host the Bank while India will get the presidency of the Bank for the first six years. The Bank will have a rotating chair. The Bank will also have a regional office in Johannesburg, South Africa. All the five countries will have equal shareholding in the BRICS Bank.

The five Finance Ministers will constitute the Bank’s board which will be chaired by Brazil.

The Bank will initially be involved in infrastructure projects in the BRICS nations.

The authorized, dedicated and paid in capitals will amount to $100 billion, $50 billion and $10 billion respectively.

The idea of the BRICS Bank was proposed by India during the 2012 Summit in New Delhi.

BRICS have long alleged that the IMF and World Bank impose belt-tightening policies in exchange for loans while giving them little say in deciding terms. Total trade between the countries is $6.14 trillion, or nearly 17 percent of the world’s total. The last decade saw the BRICS combined GDP grow more than 300 per cent, while that of the developed word grew 60 per cent.

Apart from the new development Bank, the group of five leading emerging economies also created a Contingency Reserve Arrangement on Tuesday.

BRICS central banks will keep their resources in their gold and foreign currency reserves.

China will fund $41 billion, Brazil, India and Russia $18 billion each and South Africa with $5 billion. The funds will be provided according to a multiple. China’s multiple is 0.5, which means that if needed, the country will get half of $41 billion. The multiple is 2 for South Africa and 1 for the rest.

BRICS Finance ministers or central banks’ governors will form a governing body to manage the CRA while it will be presided over by the BRICS President.

The BRICS CRA will not be open to outsiders.

Meanwhile, at the Summit in Fortaleza, Russian President Vladimir Putin said BRICS must form an energy alliance.

“We propose the establishment of the Energy Association of BRICS. Under this ‘umbrella’, a Fuel Reserve Bank and BRICS Energy Policy Institute could be set up,” Putin said on Tuesday.

Helmo Preuss in Fortaleza, Brazil for The BRICS Post