Brics Bank to put $621 mi towards projects in Brazil
Brazil is expected to receive $621 million from the New Development Bank (NDB)—the financial institution created in 2015 by Brics, comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. In its first three months, the bank approved four Brazilian projects on renewable energy (wind, solar, and hydroelectric), road building, railway reconstruction, sanitation, telecom, and Petrobras refineries. Figures can be found in the survey BRICS Joint Financial Architecture: The New Development Bank, released Wednesday (Apr. 17) by the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea).
The study estimates the deficit of investment in infrastructure in developing countries to stand somewhere between $1 and $1.5 trillion a year. Designed to offer credit to infrastructure and sustainable development projects to members and other developing nations, NDB approved 30 projects, amounting to $8.1 billion, from 2016 to 2018. Nearly a third of this amount is earmarked for transport, whereas 26 percent is to be sent towards clean energy. The bank also focuses on initiatives for urban and rural mobility, efficiency in the water supply and use, protection against floods, social and urban infrastructure, and clean production (low CO2 emissions).
As one of NDB’s five shareholders, Brazil has invested $1 billion until 2019 and should contribute with some $1 billion more for the institution by 2022. Thus far, the bank has received investments adding up to $5.3 billion from its founding partners, with the amount expected to reach $10 billion by 2022.
Together, Brics member countries account for 33 percent of the globe’s GDP, 42 percent of the world population, and 43 percent of the contribution in the world’s GDP, as per 2018 data from the International Monetary Fund.
Offices in Brazil
NDB is headquartered in Shanghai, China, and also has offices in Johannesburg, South Africa. In November 2019, an office is expected to be inaugurated in São Paulo. A branch is also likely to be built in Brasília. In 2020, Brazil will name the bank’s new president, Ipea pointed out.
