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Pravin Gordhan announced the formation of the BRICS Bank after meeting finance ministers from BRICS nations
After an announcement by Pravin Gordhan, South Africa’s finance minister yesterday about the BRICS Bank, The World Bank said it was ready to support the new development bank.
The World Bank said yesterday a Bank established by the BRICS emerging economic powers will be an “invaluable partner”.
“We welcome the announcement of the establishment of a BRICS development bank and stand ready to work closely with the new bank to end poverty and build shared prosperity throughout the developing world,” the World Bank said in a statement.
Putting all speculation of “yes”, “no” and “maybe” to rest, Gordhan announced the formation of the BRICS Bank after meeting finance ministers from BRICS nations in Durban.
However, he left the details to be announced by the leaders during the Summit today.
“Establishing a development bank is a significant undertaking,” the World Bank said.
“We await the details related to the new bank’s financing, governance, and location and stand ready to assist this newest player in global development any way we can.”
The World Bank offered to share expertise with the new BRICS Bank on Tuesday.
“For over 60 years, the World Bank has worked around the world building its staff, knowledge, capacity, and expertise in development. We look forward to sharing the expertise we have gained.”
A spokesman for the US Department of State said yesterday that the United States, which plays a weighty role in the World Bank, would have to take a look into the possibility of the BRICS bank establishment.
“You know our support, obviously, to the World Bank and other multilateral development institutions. But this is something we’re going to have to take a look at,” Patrick Ventrell said answering whether the BRICS bank would be a challenge to the World Bank.
Emphasising that BRICS mean business, President Jacob Zuma had said on Monday: “We are able to discuss things and take decisions. If, for example, we talk about the eminent establishment of a development bank, we discussed this a while ago and immediately charged our finance ministers to work on a modality.”
Robert Zoellick, the outgoing President of the World Bank had, in 2012, backed the creation of a BRICS bank – warning not to do so would be a “mistake of historic proportions”.
The BRICS Post
