K V Kamath, the soon-to-be first president of the New Development Bank for the BRICS nations, looks forward to the commencement of operations at the bank in his new role.
Thanking the Government in a statement Kamath said, "I am honoured and humbled that the Government of India has nominated me as the first president of the New Development Bank for the BRICS nations. I would like to thank the Government for reposing confidence in me.”
Kamath, 67, non-executive Chairman of India’s largest private sector ICICI Bank and non-executive Chairman at Infosys, will have a five-year term at the institution, which is likely to be operationalised within one year.
"I look forward to the establishment of the bank and commencement of its operations in the service of the BRICS nations," Kamath added.
Kamath will take over as the first president of the bank in the next 10 days after he resigns from the various board positions he holds, Finance Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi had said.
Leaders of the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) had last year reached an agreement to establish the New Development Bank, with its headquarters in Shanghai. Under the agreement, India got the right to nominate the first president.
The bank will start with an initial capital of $50 billion, with each BRICS country contributing $10 billion, while its authorised capital is $100 billion.
The bank requires ratification by all the five countries of the grouping of emerging market nations.
India is hoping to get more funds for infrastructure development from the bank.
Equal capital contribution has been decided so that the development bank does not fall into the ownership pattern of IMF and the World Bank with a distorted shareholding.