CAPE TOWN, August 30. /TASS/. Creating an inclusive financial system is a priority for Russia's BRICS presidency, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov said at the Board of Governors meeting of the BRICS New Development Bank (NBD) in South Africa.
"We are mainly influenced by the policies of the G7 countries, and Madam President (NDB President Dilma Rousseff - TASS) also spoke about this today. This, in turn, creates global cycles of instability in production and capital flows and increases the need to improve the financial system based on inclusivity. In this area, which has become a priority for Russia's BRICS presidency, we have also outlined the need to transform and modify the existing financial system," Chebeskov said.
"Many countries will experience the consequences of the upheavals that the policies of some Western countries are creating in the financial markets. The priority is to reform the modern financial system and increase the GDP of developing countries," he added.
As an example, Chebeskov cited the financial selfishness of the energy transition programs proposed by the West to many developing countries. "Most of the money allocated under these programs goes to the developed countries themselves. These expenditures are planned in conditions when millions of people in the world do not have access to electricity," he said.
Chebeskov added that institutions could be created on the basis of the New Development Bank that would offer an alternative to the financial system created by the West. "We hope that the NDB will be able to become a platform for ideas, a think tank for global economic development, which can offer new ideas and an alternative on key issues under the conditions of the prevailing dictate of the Western agenda," he said.
He also listed creating an independent settlement system that would allow payments in national currencies, as well as attracting new countries to the bank, as the main tasks in this area. He also emphasized that the NDB's activities do not pursue any political goals: "We expect the bank to fulfill the NDB's tasks while maintaining the institution's apolitical status."
The New Development Bank was established by the BRICS countries at the 6th BRICS Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil in July 2014. The NDB consists of eight countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, Egypt, India, China, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Russia, and South Africa. The bank aims to finance infrastructure and sustainable development projects in the BRICS and developing countries.
Over the years of its operation, the NDB has approved more than 100 projects worth more than $34.8 bln, supporting areas such as transportation, water supply, clean energy, digital and social infrastructure, as well as urban construction. The NDB is headquartered in Shanghai.