The World Bank has welcomed the move by the BRICS countries to set up a development bank and vowed to work closely with the new lender.
Finance ministers from the BRICS members (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) agreed Tuesday to establish the bank to fund infrastructure in the five emerging economies, Chinese Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said in South Africa.
"Establishing a development bank is a significant undertaking," the World Bank said in a statement.
"The World Bank will stand steady and work closely to partner with regional development banks in a bid to enhance the effectiveness of our collective work," it added.
According to Lou, the BRICS development bank would be complementary to the existing development institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
However, the ministers did not discuss the initial contributions from each country to the bank.