Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and New Development Bank (NDB) president Dilma Rousseff accused the US, its allies and the Western-dominated financial order on Friday of weaponising tariffs and sanctions.
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They also used the opening of the Brics bank’s annual meeting to call for new models of development and cooperation across the Global South.
Speaking before finance ministers and governors from Brics nations and new members in Rio de Janeiro, Lula said the NDB was proof that emerging economies could shape their own paths without heavy-handed Western conditionalities.
“The lack of effective reforms in traditional financial institutions has limited, for decades, the amount and type of credit multilateral banks can offer,” Lula said.
The Brazilian president praised the bank’s governance model for ensuring “equality of voice and vote” and for using local currencies. He added that 31 per cent of the bank’s projects today were funded in members’ own currencies.
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Developing nations, led by China, have sought to chip away at the dominance of the US dollar and the clout it affords Washington through the global monetary system.