The New Development Bank BRICS (NDB BRICS), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is multilateral development bank operated by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) as an alternative to the existing US-dominated World Bank and International Monetary Fund. It has headquarters in Shanghai, China.
The Bank is set up to boost infrastructure funding in the emerging economies and offer them tailor-made services.
President: The current president of New Development Bank is K.V Kamath since 2015. He is also its first president with service tenure of 5 years.
Making of BRICS Bank:
- The BRICS countries in the 4th BRICS summit held in Delhi in 2012 came up with the idea of setting up the bank. It was then proposed by India.
- Then at the 5th BRICS summit held in Durban, South Africa in 2013, all BRICS countries agreed to set up a Development bank.
- Then at the 6th BRICS summit held in Fortaleza, Brazil, the BRICS countries signed the Agreement on the New Development Bank, which makes provisions for the legal basis of the bank.
- The 7th BRICS summit in July 2015 held in Ufa, Russia marked the entry into force of the Agreement.
Some facts about NDB BRICS:
- The founding members of the Bank are the Federative Republic of Brazil, the Russian Federation, the Republic of India, the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of South Africa.
- The membership shall be open to members of the United Nations, in accordance with the provisions of the Articles of Agreement of the New Development Bank.
- The New Development Bank shall have an initial subscribed capital of US$ 50 billion and an initial authorized capital of US$ 100 billion.
- Each BRICS member will contribute an equal share in establishing a startup capital.
- All BRICS countries hold equal number of shares and have equal voting rights.
- The Bank will have its Headquarters in Shanghai. The Bank may establish offices necessary for the performance of its functions. The first regional office shall be in Johannesburg.
- The Bank shall have a Board of Governors, a Board of Directors, a President and Vice-Presidents. The President of the Bank shall be elected from one of the founding members on a rotational basis, and there shall be at least one Vice President from each of the other founding members.
Note: The idea of making a group was coined in 2006. BRIC came in existence in 2009. South Africa joined in 2010.
2019 NDB activities:
- In march 2019, The BRICS New Development Bank announced to issue bonds in South Africa and commercial paper in US dollars in the first half of 2019. The new bonds in South Africa will be denominated in the local currency and will be placed at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
- The 4th Annual Meeting of the NDB Board of Governors (BoG) and the 18th Meeting of the NDB Board of Directors (BoD) were held in Cape Town, South Africa on 31 March and 1 April 2019.
