BRICS bank not against IMF: Brazilian president

The new development bank set up by the emerging-market bloc of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South America) is not going against the existing western-backed International Monetary Fund (IMF), said Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. Rousseff tried to douse off speculations that the New Development Bank (NDB), which will be headquartered in Shanghai, China, is renouncing the IMF although she stressed that the new BRICS bank will always have a different stand from the IMF. ‘The NDB will complement the World Bank and the IMF. We don't have any interest in renouncing the IMF,’ said Rouseff after meeting Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi in the sideline of the BRICS Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil. The new BRICS development bank will have an initial capital of US$50 billion, with each member nation contributing US$10 billion. The bank will provided funding for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in member nations and other emerging nations around the world, the Fortaleza Declaration signed by BRICS leaders stated. The bank will also have a reserve fund of US$100 billion, with China contributing the biggest amount at US$41 billion. The fund will serve as a contingent fund that can be accessed by member nations in the event of a financial crisis or an economic downturn. Rouseff said ‘We are not against the IMF, we just want the NDB to be more democratic, more representative,’ Rouseff said, according to Reuters.