India to press for BRICS bank at Mexico G20 meet
24 Feb 2012
India will be a key proposer of a plan to set up a multilateral bank amid the emerging BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) economic bloc to facilitate project funding in these nations during the Mexico City meetings this weekend.
The BRICS meeting will be held on Saturday morning alongside the broader Group of 20 meeting of finance ministers from the world's top economies.
"The idea is for the BRICS to offer the capital for this bank, but we still need to discuss if this bank will serve to give out loans to other emerging market countries," said a Brazilian government official cited by Reuters.
"The idea is in its infancy" and the countries are not likely to reach a decision this weekend, the official said, but added that Brazil's finance minister Guido Mantega "is sympathetic to the idea"
India's suggestion of a BRICS bank comes as emerging nations strive for greater influence in the International Monetary Fund and other multilateral bodies to match their rising economic weight.
Much like India, Brazil, one of the world's fastest-growing economies, has for many years sought to increase its influence at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Mantega called for a transparent election to replace Robert Zoellick as president of the World Bank after Zoellick last week said he would step down.
Efforts by the developing countries to end the practice of naming the World Bank president from the US and the head of the IMF from Europe have so far been rebuffed, stoking frustration in BRICS nations apart from China.
