The proposed BRICS development bank is not a threat to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and will instead complement the multilateral lending agencies, ADB president Takehiko Nakao said Thursday.
Addressing a press conference at the 46th annual meeting of the ADB board of governors, Nakao said if needed, the ADB would provide support to facilitate the establishment of the BRICS development bank.
"We can support the BRICS bank if necessary. I don't think we have to change our business model because of the BRICS bank," Nakao said while addressing his first press conference after taking over as chief of the Manila-based ADB last month.
BRICS, the group of five emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - that represent a fifth of the global GDP, plan to set up joint development bank.
Leaders of the five emerging economic powerhouses at a meeting in Durban, South Africa, in March this year agreed to set up the BRICS bank.