BRICS bank to be operational by end of 2015
The Five-member BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group is likely to have its own development bank by the end of this year. A statement in this regard was made by one of the BRICS countries on Saturday. “The New Development Bank (NDB) is expected to be operational by end of 2015,” said Finance Minister of South Africa, as he also announced the nomination of South African banker Leslie Maasdorp as vice-president of the bank. The NDB is expected to have about $100 million in capital and inaugural meeting of the board of governors of the new bank is all set to be held in Moscow on July 7. It is noteworthy here to mention that Indian banker K V Kamat, non-executive chairman of ICICI, will be the first president of the Development Bank which is going to be operational starting this year with headquarters at Shanghai. While India occupied the place of first president of the NDB, Russia placed its nomination to hold the post of first Chairman of the Board of Governors and first Chairperson of the Board of Directors would be from Brazil. In a recently-held BRICS business meet at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in Russia, various business officials from BRICS nations discussed challenges being faced by the group in case of trade and investment. The key items under BRICS’ to-do-list include agreement over free trade, economic growth, and energy alliance, among others. While Russian side prioritizes over boosting Russian exports to other BRICS nations and economic partnership, India urges on need for ‘common guidelines for investment principles’ and China is focused on Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs) among the BRICS group. India, which will host the BRICS Summit in 2016, has also proposed a ‘common and integrated trade fair organization for BRICS’ during the recently-held summit. The decision over creation of NDB dates back to 2013 when the BRICS nations decided to build their own development bank to create enough financial assistance to their infrastructure projects needed to fill the gap with industrialized world.
June 27, 2015 | 7:07 pm IST.
to success.