BRICS nations opens own development bank

MANILA, Philippines - BRICS emerging market nations has launched a $100-billion development bank to counter the Western-dominated international financial system. BRICS stands for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The block accounts for one fifth of the global economic output and nearly half the world’s population. The New Development Bank (NDB) was formed to counter the dominance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Each nation contributed $10 billion each as subscribed capital and $40 billion in guarantees. Another $100 billion will be set aside as a currency reserve pool should any member hit liquidity issues. It will be based in Shanghai, and India will preside over the emerging markets development bank for the first six years. It will be succeeded by Brazil then Russia. Target market will initially be funding for infrastructure projects of emerging nations, or the same market that the World Bank and theADB presently serves.