Developed nations can have minority voting share in BRICS bank: Montek Singh Ahluwalia

SINGAPORE: The industrialised nations can have a minority voting share in the proposed BRICS development bank, the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission of India, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, said today.

Addressing delegates during a lecture on 'Challenges Before the G20' here, Ahluwalia said that it would not be just BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) for setting up the bank and nor necessary to exclude industrialised countries from the new financing institution.

"You will have a certain distribution of shares where as the industrialised countries if they want to have a say in the proposed bank's management or policy, there could be a voting system and they could have a minority share," he said.

Ahluwalia pointed out that developed economies do not want to increase their contribution and expand the capital base of the World Bank.

"I have been told that the World Bank's lending will be reduced to where it was 10 years ago. Certainly it is a case of no willingness to expand the lending," he said.

He, however, said that World Bank's outgoing president Robert Zoellick has said that the World Bank stood ready to partner in this new proposed institution.

The BRICS nations last month decided to examine the possibility of setting up a development bank on the lines of global financial institutions to exclusively provide funds at low cost to the five emerging countries, including India.