BRICS propose to create own multilateral bank

Emerging market economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, that group themselves as `BRICS' have proposed the creation of a multilateral development bank to coordinate their response to any faltering of the global economy.

The plan is to coordinate the activities of national development banks of the BRICS, Brazilian trade minister Fernando Pimentel said on Friday.

The member nations of the BRICS grouping plan to ink memorandums of understanding during their meeting in India next week, which would herald the birth of a new multilateral bank that would finance investments among these and other nations, Pimentel said.

Leaders of BRICS nations China, India, Brazil, Russia and South Africa will meet at a summit in India next week to discuss the world economy and closer coordination.

"Brazil is interested, we sympathise with the proposal," Pimentel told foreign reporters in Brasilia, the capital. "This is a global tool that will allow for better coordination among the five most dynamic economies in the world."

The countries are yet to work out operational details of the proposed development bank and talks are at a very early stage, he pointed out.