NEW DELHI, March 11. /TASS/. India has chosen two candidates to head the Development Bank established as part of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), The Times of India reported on Wednesday.
The candidates one of whom may become the BRICS Bank’s first president are former finance minister and foreign minister Yashwant Sinha and ex-minister for telecoms and information technology and former economist with the World Bank, Arun Shourie.
"A political candidate with administrative skills is better equipped to deal with the crucial appointment instead of a bureaucrat," the report says referring to sources. "A final call is to be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which is expected shortly," it says.
Russia’s Deputy Finance Minister Sergey Storchak told a round table on the Russian-Indian cooperation as part of BRICS that he expected the Indian government to swiftly unveil its proposals on the candidate for the post.
The agreement on establishing the bank was signed in mid-July 2014 in Fortaleza, Brazil. The New Development Bank is to be created to finance infrastructure projects and projects of sustainable development in the BRICS countries and developing economies.
The bank’s founding parties will be BRICS countries, which are to be vested with special authority unlike other members. The first president of the bank will be from India and the position will rotate every five years among the BRICS nations.
The key decisions of the bank shall be decided by a simple majority of the votes cast. The bank will be open for members of the United Nations, in accordance with the provision of the agreement.
The bank, to be headquartered in Shanghai, China, will have an authorized capital of $100 billion, including $50 billion in dedicated capital and $10 billion in paid-in capital ($40 billion paid on demand). Paid-in capital will be formed within seven years proportionately by the member states. Russia’s share will amount to $2 billion.
Russia’s Finance Ministry expects the New Development Bank to start working by late 2015, and the full capacity of the institution to be achieved in four or five years.