Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa —the so-called BRICS countries —

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Fed up with U.S. dominance of the global financial system, five emerging market powers this week will launch their own versions of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
 


Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa —the so-called BRICS countries — are seeking "alternatives to the existing world order," said Harold Trinkunas, director of the Latin America Initiative at the Brookings Institution.
 


At a summit Tuesday through Thursday in Brazil, the five countries will unveil their version of the IMF: a $100 billion fund to fight financial crises, called the Contingent Reserve Arrangement. They will also launch a World Bank alternative, a new bank that will make loans for infrastructure projects across the developing world. The IMF has assets of more than $300 billion; the World Bank, $490 billion.
 


The five BRICS countries will each invest $10 billion in the lender, tentatively called the New Development Bank. Another $50 billion is expected to come as other countries sign up.
 


The BRICS powers are still jousting over the location of the bank's headquarters — Shanghai, Moscow, New Delhi or Johannesburg. The headquarters skirmish is part of a larger struggle to keep China, the world's second-biggest economy, from dominating the new bank the way the United States has dominated the World Bank, which is based in Washington.
 


The bloc comprises countries with vastly different economies, foreign policy aims and political systems — from India's raucous democracy to China's one-party state.
 


Whatever their differences, the BRICS countries have a shared desire for a bigger voice in global economic policy. After decades of rapid growth, the five countries account for nearly one-fifth of world economic activity. Each has had painful experiences with Western financial dominance: They've contended with economic sanctions imposed by Western powers. Or they've been forced to make painful budget cuts and meet other strict conditions to qualify for emergency IMF loans.
 


Russia was burdened with multi-billion dollar debt in the 1990s but paid it down in the early 2000s. It has since been reluctant to borrow or to seek assistance from the IMF or other Western financial institutions, which are widely seen in Russia as predators.
 


"China actively supports the establishment of the BRICS Development Bank and the contingency reserve as soon as possible to give the BRIC countries their own safety net," Li Baodong, a deputy foreign minister from China, said last week.
 


Developing countries have also been frustrated because the U.S. Congress has refused to approve legislation providing extra money to help the IMF make more loans to countries in trouble. The money is part of a broader reform program that would give China and other developing countries more voting power at the IMF.
 


The new financial institutions arrive as developing countries contend with slower economic growth. They also are vulnerable to financial shocks as the U.S. Federal Reserve scales back massive bond purchases meant to stimulate the U.S. economy. As the Fed's easy money policies diminish, U.S. interest rates are likely to rise and draw money away from emerging markets and back to the United States. That could rattle financial markets in the developing world, driving stock prices and currencies down.
 


"We agreed that it's important in the current conditions of the capital flight to have this reserve, a kind of mini-IMF," Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said before he went to Latin America with President Vladimir Putin. "The fund will be in a position to react promptly to capital outflows, providing liquidity in hard currency, in dollars, in this case."
 


Before leaving for the summit Sunday, new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi acknowledged that "many emerging economies have experienced a slowdown, which has increased the challenge of pursuing inclusive and sustainable economic development."
 


Uri Dadush, an economist with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, sees no problem with the BRICS countries' development bank and financial crisis fund. But he worries that the five countries' decision to go outside of existing institutions provides more evidence of the "fracturing of the postwar (economic) system that gave us so much peace and prosperity. The system has not been able to adapt to the new reality, the rise of the new powers."
 


The IMF and the World Bank seem to be taking the new challengers in stride.
 


"All initiatives that seek to strengthen the network of multilateral lending institutions and increase the available financing for development and infrastructure are welcome," said IMF spokeswoman Conny Lotze. "What is important is that any new institutions complement the existing ones."
 


Answering a question about the BRICS development bank earlier this month, World Bank President Jim Kim said: "We welcome any new organizations ... We think that the need for new investments in infrastructure is massive, and we think that we can work very well and cooperatively with any of these new banks once they become a reality."


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/emerging-nations-plan-own-world-191407045.html

July 15, 2014
BRICS will launch a new development Bank during the plenary session today.
Brisk business before BRICS Summit
The BRICS Summit 2014 has officially begun in the Brazilian coastal city of Fortaleza on Tuesday but going by what has already been achieved in Fortaleza, one can easily call it a success.
BRICS will launch a new development Bank during the plenary session today even as they rally for developing countries to play a greater role in international affairs. Ahead of the 6th Leaders Summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin also said the five nations will create a virtual BRICS secretariat in the long term.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and the new Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday got an opportunity to discuss the historical border issue, calling for early negotiated solutions to the dispute.
The Indian Prime Minister received an invitation from Xi to attend the APEC leaders meet in November that will be hosted by China.
China also welcomed India to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a founding member, the Chinese president said.
“If the two countries speak in one voice, the whole world will attentively listen; if the two countries join hand in hand, the whole world will closely watch,” said the Chinese president after meeting Modi.
“Judging from either bilateral, regional or global perspective, China and India are long-lasting strategic and cooperative partners, rather than rivals,” Xi added.
The club of five held a flurry of bilateral meets in Fortaleza and Brasilia that saw the Presidents Vladimir Putin, Jacob Zuma, Xi Jinping, Dilma Rousseff and Prime Minister Narendra Modi boosting economic partnerships between enterprises and member nations.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin scored a diplomatic goal as China said on Monday it will put its political weight behind Russia.
Beijing is “true in word and resolute in deed” in ties with Moscow, Xi said after a meeting with Putin in Fortaleza while pushing for intensifying “political support to each other”.
The Chinese President’s support to Putin comes in the backdrop of the severe sanctions against Russia announced by Western economies over the turmoil in Ukraine.
The five BRICS leaders are expected to rally around Putin over the issue of Ukraine at the leaders Summit on the 15th and 16th July in Fortaleza.
“Certainly, the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) intend to strengthen the political element of our cooperation. That is why we will develop the practice of mutual consultations and joint actions in international organisations, first of all, in the UN”, Putin said in an interview to Itar-Tass.
According to World Trade Organization data, BRICS exports grew fivefold between 2001 and 2011—more than double the world average.
During the BRICS summit, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa will sign into creation a joint foreign exchange reserves pool and a development bank to rival Western institutions like the World Bank and the IMF.
http://thebricspost.com/brisk-business-before-brics-summit/#.U8Vkj_ldUy4

BRICS score in Brazil, create new Development Bank
July 15, 2014, 6:39 pm
Heads of state of BRICS met in Fortaleza, Brazil on 15 July 2014 [Xinhua]
After some tough rounds of negotiations, BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have created not only a new $100 billion Development Bank, but also a $100 billion foreign currency reserves pool.
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 year. The Bank will have a rotating chair.
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.
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.
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.
http://thebricspost.com/brics-score-in-brazil-create-new-development-bank/

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