BRICS TO ALLOCATE $15 BILLION TO BOOST COVID-19 HIT GLOBAL ECONOMY

Ritu Yadav.
The BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa- have decided to set up a $15 billion fund for member states to support the unimaginable loss of the global economy and re-build the economy that has been completely shaken due to the outbreak of contagious COVID-19 pandemic.
Foreign Ministers of the BRICS nations held a virtual meeting on Tuesday to discuss and exchange views on possible measure to be taken by the member states to combat COVID-19 and overcome the financial, trade, economic and social consequences of the pandemic.
The meeting was held at the initiative of Russia with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov chairing the ‘meeting of the BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs/International Relations’ as Russia is the chair of BRICS for 2020.

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“We decided to allocate up to USD 15 billion…We believe that it should become a very good reinforcement for our countries” economies when they’re coming out of the crisis and resume economic operations,” Sergey Lavrov said after the meeting.
The BRICS is also considering a proposal to set up a Vaccine Research and Development Centre as part of efforts to fight global pandemic in an efficient way.
They decided to create a special setup of loans through the New Development Bank or the BRICS bank to help grapple the global crisis.
In his remarks, Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar thanked the Russian Foreign Minister for convening this remarkable meeting. He noted that BRICS, which brings together almost 42 percent of global population, with impressive growth, investment and trade share, has an important role to play in reviving the global economy.
The external affair minister of India highlighted the initiatives taken by the government to combat the pandemic at an early stage and also mentioned Aarogya Setu Citizen App and Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package while speaking of the steps taken by the government.

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“Economic activity across sectors has been negatively impacted leading to loss of jobs and livelihoods. He emphasized that we need to provide support to businesses, especially MSMEs, to tide over the crisis and ensure livelihoods are not lost,” said the MEA statement.

China on its part tried to dismiss the allegations of US that Beijing was not transparent in its COVID-19 response.
Speaking at the conference, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said, “The global community should never be distracted in its collaborative response by finger-pointing or the blame game, still less should we allow new tensions and divisions to be created as a result of politicisation or stigmatisation.”
During the conference, Russia also appreciated the role of India in tackling the novel coronavirus crisis. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov thanked India for ensuring the repatriation of 2000 stranded Russian nationals. According to him, this was a clear confirmation of the friendly ties and “privileged strategic partnership” between the two countries.
A virtual meeting of BRICS Health Officials on COVID-19 pandemic is likely to be held on May 7 to take the discussion forward.