CAPE TOWN, August 30. /TASS/. The New Development Bank (NDB) created by BRICS countries faces the task of creating an independent system of payments and settlements in order to prevent the adverse effect from third countries on their finances, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Ivan Chebeskov told TASS at the session of the NBD Board of Governors underway in Cape Town.
"We discussed activities of the bank during the last decade and its successes, among which is creation of the infrastructure inside BRICS for countries of the association," the official said. "We also discussed new challenges against us and the fact that they are more serious than during the past decade. We face the unprecedented geopolitical fragmentation that were not present before. In such conditions we should create such infrastructure among the BRICS countries that will be independent from impacts of third countries and concurrently beneficial for us," he noted.
One of key tasks NDB should solve is the revision of the entire international monetary and financial system and the entire financial infrastructure, Chebeskov said. "We face global challenges; we need to move gradually, choosing the evolutionary way of introducing changes," he noted.
"Everybody understands our interests are not represented to a full measure in the global financial system now," Chebeskov noted. "It can be openly said that we are discriminated. The entire financial infrastructure is owned by Western countries. They use this infrastructure, earn from it and employ as a geopolitical pressure lever," he said.
"We have a big job to do," the official continued. "We are discussing in the bank creation of independent infrastructure for payments and settlements among other things. This is an import part of work because we sustain huge costs, while beneficiaries are in other countries. We also had to use currencies of third countries that are susceptible to volatility and depend on monetary policy of third countries. We have to do many things in this connection. Our goals are formidable; I am confident we will handle [them]," he added.
The New Development Bank was established in July 2014. Its members are Bangladesh, Brazil, Egypt, India, China, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, and South Africa. The goal of bank’s operation is to finance infrastructural and sustainable development projects in BRICS countries and developing economies.