BRICS to set up own credit rating agency

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, South African Minister of International Relations and Co-operation Lindiwe Sisulu, China Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Brazil Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Marcos Galvao during the BRICS Ministerial Meeting at OR Tambo Building in Pretoria. Picture: Jacques Naude/African News Agency (ANA)

JOHANNESBURG – The Brics nations are looking to set up a new credit-rating company in an effort to break the dominance of the big three developed-nation firms.
Seeking to lower excessively high borrowing costs thanks to the assessments of S&P Global Ratings, Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service, the group including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa aim to create a competitor with a different fee structure.
The creation of a ratings company that doesn’t rely on revenue from clients who want their debt assessed “is actively under discussion,” Yaduvendra Mathur, chairman and managing director of the Export-Import Bank of India, said in June last year.
As far back in 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India called upon members of BRICS to take begin the BRICS credit rating agency. India has long held the view that a new rating agency would provide an immense contribution to the existing knowledge of rating systems. Since then, there have been discussions at several conferences and forums, the latest was during the special panel session on the future prospects of BRICS at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum late May, Modern Diplomacy reported.
Modern Diplomacy further reported that BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) is currently working on a set of new proposals including the establishment of women business club and a rating agency, among others, for the 10th edition of BRICS Summit scheduled to take place from 25-27 July, 2018, in Johannesburg, South Africa.
– BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE

Source: iol.co.za