RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 16 (AFP): Venezuela's leftist government is leading Brazil, Argentina and other regional economies in creating a new bank with the ambition of casting off unwelcome oversight by the IMF and World Bank.
The idea was first announced by Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez last December as part of his crusade against US influence and international financial institutions that he says are merely "tools of Washington."
The finance and economy ministers of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela met last week in Rio de Janeiro to outline the main elements of the "Banco del Sur"-or Bank of the South.
The lender will provide "a new financial architecture" for development in the region, according to the seven backers, whose initiative comes just ahead of annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank this weekend.
"There will not be credit subjected to economic policies. There will not be credit that produces a calamity for our people and as a result, it will not be a tool of domination," said Venezuelan Finance Minister Rodrigo Cabeza.
South American nations to launch bank as rival to IMF
FE Team | Published: October 17, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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