BRICS Bank must put poverty and inequality reduction at heart of its mission

Today’s indication by BRICS leaders that they will keep working towards a ‘BRICS Development Bank’ leaves many details still to be settled.

BRICS leaders are right to take action to reform the international financial architecture. But the new BRICS Bank must put reducing poverty and inequality at the heart of its mission: almost half of the world’s poor people live in the BRICS, and all the BRICS apart fromBrazilhave increasing rates of inequality.  

“BRICS leaders are blazing a trail in reforming the global financial architecture,” said Oxfam’s BRICS lead Steve Price-Thomas. “But the devil is in the detail. If the BRICS Bank fights poverty and inequality it could be a big success. But if it focuses only on big-ticket schemes that fail to directly benefit poor people it could do more harm than good”.