At a summit taking place in Brazil during this week the BRICS are expected to commit to a $100 billion fund to fight international crises. It is hoped the fund will play a similar role to that being played by the IMF in assisting countries needing financial assistance to ward off crises.

In addition, the BRICS will launch a new bank that will make loans available for infrastructure projects throughout the world, which will be considered to be an alternative to the World Bank. The bank will be called the New Development Bank and each of the five countries will contribute equally to its capital fund.

The countries decided to launch the two institutions because they have grown wary of the United States domination of the IMF and the World Bank. The US has also been reluctant to relinquish some of its voting powers to China in particular as that country grew economically. More recently the US Congress refused to vote for more funds for the IMF to assist countries in crises and effectively squashed a plan that would increase the voting rights of emerging countries.