Leaders from the BRICS group of emerging economies are expected to announce an agreement on March 27 on the establishment of a new development bank.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, China’s new President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and South African President Jacob Zuma are to make the announcement at a summit in Durban, South Africa.
But it appeared that a wide ranging agreement will have to wait because more time is needed to work out details on the bank’s funding and operations.
The bank is aimed at counterbalancing the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which emerging economies see as dominated by Western nations.
The BRICS nations account for 40 percent of the world’s population and have total foreign-currency reserves of $4.4 trillion.