" BRICS mulls joint bank" by Yang Jingjie (Global Times)

The BRICS group of emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - is mulling the establishment of a joint development bank, a topic set to be discussed at the bloc's ongoing summit in New Delhi.

Analysts say although the proposed deal is expected to focus on funding infrastructure projects within the group at the primary stage, it may come to serve as a supplement to Western-dominated lending institutions in approving loans to the developing world.

According to officials, the development bank will be created in the mold of the World Bank.

The initiative would allow the five countries to pool resources for infrastructure improvements, Reuters reported.

Brazilian Trade Minister Fernando Pimentel said last week the countries would sign a deal at the summit to study the creation of the bank.

The Hindu newspaper quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry official Li Kexin as saying that China believes the bank could offer developing nations more say in how funds are invested in emerging economies, and "downgrade the risk of ups and downs in other international currencies."

Sudhir Vyas, a senior Indian foreign ministry official, said Monday that BRICS would have to determine how the bank would be structured and capitalized.

"Such an ambitious project would take time. We don't set up a bank every day," he said.

Qu Xing, head of the China Institute of International Studies, told the Global Times that the initiative is still far from being operational.

Huang Wei, a researcher with the Institute of World Economics & Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, echoed the sentiment, adding that the group needs to work out a string of detailed problems, such as the bank's size, before it could take shape. ( Fonte: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90883/7772873.html)