Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the President of Brazil and host of this year’s BRICS summit taking place in Rio de Janeiro on July 6-7, issued a forceful call for “a reformed financial architecture” and urged the annual meeting of the directors of the BRICS’s New Development Bank to “show the world that it is possible to create a new financing model, without conditionalities.”
The NDB meeting was held on July 4, as part of the preparatory gatherings for the BRICS summit. The central issue facing the summit of 11 BRICS member nations and 9 partners is the role the BRICS should play in devising a new financial system to address the crises facing mankind. Lula has historically been a forceful proponent of taking the bull by the horns and creating a new, development-oriented financial system, including devising ways to channel credit into development, rather than speculation. His July 4 speech to the NDB board struck precisely those themes.
“In an increasingly unstable global scenario, marked by the resurgence of protectionism and unilateralism and impacted by the climate crisis, the NDB’s role in reducing our vulnerabilities will grow. Our bank is more than just a large bank for emerging countries; it is proof that a reformed financial architecture is viable and that a new, fairer development model is possible,” Lula stated.
