Suggested charter capital of BRICS Bank to be $50 bln initially - General Secretary of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry

ST. PETERSBURG, June 18. /TASS/. The suggested charter capital of BRICS Bank will amount initially to $50 bln with further growth to $100 bln, General Secretary of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry Didar Singh told TASS exclusively at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on Thursday. "I think the initial goal is 50 but the objective is 100 [billion dollars]," Singh said. "I believe 100 billion dollars is what the aim is. This will be a big stimulus definitely," he added. According to Singh, the BRICS Bank will start operating in dollars and then move to a basket of currencies. "At the moment everyone works initially within the context of the dollar economy. But we do know the suggestion of having a basket of currencies would be better as you move towards the suggestion of being able to trade in local currencies. That could then possibly be in the future, you have to go step by step," Singh said. As TASS reported earlier, BRICS summit (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Arica) expected to launch the group’s Development Bank and currency reserve pool at its July summit in Ufa. "We expect to reach agreement in Ufa on the launch of practical operations of the BRICS Bank and a pool of currency reserves," President Putin said at a ceremony of receiving credentials from the ambassadors of foreign states. BRICS was established in 2006 on Russia’s initiative and this association "has already become an influential factor in world policy and economy," Putin said. "Russia is interested in further intensifying cooperation between the BRICS countries and developing new interaction mechanisms, including in the financial and economic sphere," the Russian president said. President Putin also said an additional impulse would be given in the coming days "to the development of inter-parliamentary relations, humanitarian and information cooperation, the intensification of contacts between trade unions and non-governmental organizations. Read more