SHANGHAI – A new $100-billion bank for major emerging nations will sign agreements to establish its headquarters in China, the latest step in Beijing’s efforts to re-engineer the world’s financial institutions. The New Development Bank (NDB), set up by the so-called BRICS nations of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, has been viewed as a challenge to Washington-based institutions. Its website explicitly describes it as an “alternative to the existing US-dominated World Bank and International Monetary Fund” (IMF) which will address needs for infrastructure and sustainable development. It comes after the formal establishment in December of the Chinese-led, Beijing-headquartered Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a $100- billion institution that counts several major European countries among its members after they signed up despite Washington’s objections. Earlier, following a long campaign by Beijing, the IMF announced China’s yuan will be included in its elite Special Drawing Rights reserve currency basket. The NDB [...]
