BRICS To Allocate $15 Bn For Member Nations To Revive Pandemic-Hit Economies

After a virtual meeting to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 spread on Tuesday, foreign ministers of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) nations decided to allocate $15 billion towards setting up a special loan instrument through the New Development Bank that would help revive their economies.

EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar

"We decided to set up a special loan instrument to finance projects of economic rebuilding of BRICS countries. In total we decided to allocate upto US $15 billion. This can be a very good foundation to revive the economic activities," said Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in a media interaction after the meeting, as quoted by India Today.

The leaders also discussed possible joint measures to overcome the financial, trade, economic and social consequences of the pandemic.

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said that this meeting was chaired by Lavrov and EAM (External Affairs Minister) Dr. S. Jaishankar represented India.

"EAM emphasized that the pandemic is not only posing a great risk to the health and well being of humanity but is also severely impacting global economy and output by disruption of global trade and supply chains. Economic activity across sectors has been negatively impacted leading to loss of jobs and livelihoods. He emphasized that we need to provide support to businesses, especially MSMEs, to tide over the crisis and ensure livelihoods are not lost," the statement from MEA said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance in a statement on Tuesday said that the Government of India and Asian Development Bank have signed a $1.5 billion loan to support response to the novel coronavirus pandemic focusing on immediate priorities such as disease containment and prevention as well as social protection of the vulnerable sections of the society.