Algeria joins BRICS New Development Bank

ALGIERS, Sept 01 (AFP): Algeria has been approved for membership in the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB), the country's finance ministry has announced.

The decision was taken on Saturday and announced by NDB chief Dilma Roussef at a meeting in Cape Town, South Africa.

By joining "this important development institution, the financial arm of the BRICS group, Algeria is taking a major step in its process of integration into the global financial system," the Algerian finance ministry said in a statement

The bank of the BRICS group of nations-whose name derives from the initials of founding members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa-is aimed at offering an alternative to international financial institutions like the World Bank and IMF.

Algeria's membership was secured thanks to "the strength of the country's macroeconomic indicators" which have recorded "remarkable performances in recent years" and allowed the North African country to be classified as an "upper-tier emerging economy", the finance ministry said.