Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said Wednesday that the development bank to be set up by the emerging-market bloc of BRICS is not against the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
"We don't have the slightest interest in renouncing" the IMF, Rousseff told reporters here after a meeting with visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Both Brazil and India are members of the BRICS grouping, which also includes China, Russia and South Africa. At their sixth summit on Tuesday in the Brazilian port city of Fortaleza, the five countries agreed to establish a development bank and a contingent reserve arrangement.
The New Development Bank (NDB), designed as an alternative to the World Bank and the IMF, "is extremely important" for the BRICS countries, as it will profoundly change their financing conditions, Rousseff said.
Meanwhile, the NDB "will always have a different stand" from the IMF concerning developing countries, added the Brazilian president.
However, "the new BRICS bank isn't against" the world lender, she stressed. As far as the IMF is concerned, "we are interested in making it more democratic, making it more representative."
According to the Fortaleza Declaration, the NDB is aimed at mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in the BRICS countries and other emerging economies.
The bank is to be headquartered in Shanghai, China, and an African regional center of the bank will be established in South Africa concurrently with the headquarters.
BRICS to establish development bank, reserve arrangement
The emerging-market bloc of BRICS on Tuesday announced plans to establish a development bank and a contingent reserve arrangement (CRA).
The five members of the group -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- laid out the designs of the New Development Bank (NDB) and the CRA in a declaration released following their sixth summit in this Brazilian city.
The NDB, to be headquartered in Shanghai, will have an initial authorized capital of 100 billion U.S. dollars, and its initial subscribed capital of 50 billion dollars will be equally shared among founding members, according to the Fortaleza Declaration.
The five countries decided that the first chair of the Board of Governors shall be from Russia, the first chair of the Board of Directors from Brazil, and the first president of the bank from India.
They also agreed to set up an African regional center of the NDB in South Africa, which will be established concurrently with the headquarters.
The bank, said the declaration, is aimed at "mobilizing resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging and developing economies."
"Based on sound banking principles, the NDB will strengthen the cooperation among our countries and will supplement the efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global development, thus contributing to our collective commitments for achieving the goal of strong, sustainable and balanced growth," said the document.
The CRA, with an initial size of 100 billion dollars, "will have a positive precautionary effect, help countries forestall short-term liquidity pressures, promote further BRICS cooperation, strengthen the global financial safety net and complement existing international arrangements," it added.
In addition, the five countries also voiced their readiness to further facilitate trade, enhance financial ties, tackle tax-related challenges and tap the cooperation potential in insurance and reinsurance markets.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the summit along with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Jacob Zuma.
