BRICS Bank to Expand Membership as #SaudiArabia Looks to Join - Bloomberg

BRICS Bank to Expand Membership as Saudi Arabia Looks to Join - Bloomberg

The New Development Bank, the lender created by the BRICS group of nations, will widen its membership as it seeks to boost its capital and counter the influence of Western-dominated multilateral banks.

The lender — formed by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — will look at increasing the diversity of its members in terms of geography, development stages and on the size of the countries, Dilma Rousseff, the bank’s president, said at its annual meeting in Shanghai on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia is the latest to discuss joining the bank, the Financial Times has reported, a move that would give the lender more financial muscle. The bank was created in 2014 as a counterweight to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

The bank’s membership is open to any country within the United Nations. Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates became members in 2021, while Egypt joined in February. Uruguay is a prospective member, according to the NDB’s website.