Singapore/Brasilia: The five BRICS nations agreed to speed up formation of a development bank and raised concerns over the pace of the global economic recovery.

The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, who met on the sidelines of a Group of 20 summit in Brisbane, Australia, instructed their finance ministers to name the bank’s president by the time they next meet in Russia, according to a statement from the Brazilian government. The global economic situation hasn’t improved since the group last met in July, Brazil President Dilma Rousseff told the other leaders, according to a transcript from Rouseff’s office.

At that meeting in Fortaleza, Brazil, the BRICS agreed on the structure of a $50 billion development bank, which will have its headquarters in China and with India holding its first rotating presidency. They also agreed on the creation of a $100 billion currency exchange reserve. Both measures, which need approval from legislatures in each country, are aimed at providing an financing alternative to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, in which BRICS countries have been seeking more say.

“The advanced countries haven’t managed a consistent recovery and international trade isn’t growing enough to stimulate emerging markets," Rousseff said. “Advanced economies need to boost their internal demand to pre-crisis levels instead of trying to solve their problems by increasing their exports."

Bank plans

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the meeting that he expects to ratify the agreement by the end of this year, according to a statement from his office.

“BRICS decisions on making their own financial institutions have been successfully implemented," Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the BRICS meeting, according to a recording of his comments. The total volume of capital in the development bank and currency reserves would enable the group to get joint mechanisms that can stabilize national capital markets in case of a world economic crisis, he said.

The group also said delays in changes at the IMF to give emerging economies more equal representation were “unjustifiable" and urged the G-20 to consider alternatives, according to the statement from Brazil’s government.

China President Xi Jinping urged the group to quickly establish the development bank and called for a bigger voice for BRICS nations in global economic governance, according to China’s official Xinhua News Agency.

Global growth

The BRICS economies grew 5.7% last year, a rate that is forecast to slow to 5.3% by 2015, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The IMF last month cut its forecast for advanced economies’ output by 0.1% to 2.3% in 2015. It cut its projection for world economic growth next year to 3.8%.

Australian treasurer Joe Hockey said G-20 finance ministers were confident of reaching their goal of lifting collective gross domestic product by an additional 2%, or more, over five years.

“BRICS countries represent a new and rising power, and they are playing an increasingly important role in the international economy," China’s vice-finance minister Zhu Guangyao told reporters in Brisbane on Friday. “We support the improvement of the current international economic and political order, and based upon that, we demand a greater voice for emerging economies in global governance." Bloomberg

Xin Zhou in Beijing contributed to this story.

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