Can the BRICS countries launch a successful rival to the IMF and World Bank?

BRICS

Can the BRICS countries launch a successful rival to the IMF and World Bank?

In the shadow of the just concluded World Cup, leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa have gathered in Fortaleza, Brazil with a different agenda. They’re hoping to capitalize on their combined economic strength to promote trade, investment and less dependency on the West. Difficult questions face the five countries attending the BRICS summit in Brazil.

The leaders of the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – are meeting for their 6th annual summit. While they may differ in political systems, levels of economic growth, culture and demographics, the five countries represent almost three billion people, about 40 percent of the world, with a combined GDP of $16 trillion last year, and an estimated $4 trillion in foreign reserves. That’s 18 percent of the world economy.

That might explain why these countries are gathering and trying to set aside their differences in favor of a proposed BRICS bank to rival the IMF and World Bank. They are also helping partners like Russia try to overcome stiff sanctions imposed by the West over Ukraine. CCTV’s Stephen Gibbs reports from the site of this year’s summit: Fortaleza, Brazil.

Can the BRICS countries launch a successful rival to the IMF and World Bank?

That might explain why these countries are gathering and trying to set aside their differences in favor of a proposed BRICS bank to rival the IMF and World Bank. They are also helping partners like Russia try to overcome stiff sanctions imposed by the West over Ukraine. CCTV's Stephen Gibbs reports from the site of this year’s summit: Fortaleza, Brazil.

Follow Stephen Gibbs on Twitter @STHGibbs

Tanvi Madan is the director of the India Project at the Brookings Institution. Pepe Escobar is the Asia Times roving correspondent and a veteran Brazilian journalist in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Victor Gao is the Director of the China National Association of International Studies in Beijing.