29 September 2009
The Bank of the South, a project finance bank of South American countries, will start with $7 billion in capital and will grow to $20 billion, the Venezuelan Finance Minister said.
Source: Bloomberg
Sept 27, 2009
The Bank of the South, a project- finance bank of South American countries, will start with $7 billion in capital and will grow to $20 billion, Venezuelan Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez said.
Presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela signed the foundational document on the sidelines of the Africa-South America Summit in Margarita Island, Venezuela, last night, after almost four years of attempts to form a regional financial institution.
“It’s our bank, to bring our reserves, those that were in countries in the North, to increase lending between ourselves,” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said yesterday.
The bank’s objective will be to finance development projects in agriculture, energy and health care for member nations and boost trade, according to a copy of the document obtained from the finance ministry. The bank will have its headquarters in Caracas with smaller branches in La Paz, Bolivia, and Buenos Aires.
The bank will get $2 billion each from Venezuela, Brazil and Argentina and the remainder will come from other member countries, Rodriguez said. All members will have equal voting rights, he said.
‘Correcting Asymmetries’
“The existence of the bank will permit the correcting of asymmetries in the region, reduction of poverty and sustained development,” the document said.
Colombia, Peru and Chile didn’t sign on to the bank.
The bank is another step in the independence and unity in South America, Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa told reporters yesterday.
“This is historic for the true independence of Latin America,” Correa said. “We’re done depending on the North for on one side, kneeling down to ask for some dollars and on the other sending billions of dollars to them. We’ve had enough of that contradiction.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Steven Bodzin in Caracas at .