By Ajith Siriwardana

The government is considering obtaining the membership of the New Development Bank (NDB), a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS states, after failing to obtain BRICS membership due its decision not to grant new membership, Minister Vijitha Herath said yesterday.

He told the weekly briefing to announce cabinet decisions that the government applied for the membership of the NDB and that the Finance Ministry was tasked to provide its observations on the matter.

The NDB, formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, is a multilateral development bank established by the BRICS states. The Minister said the government will decide on whether to obtain membership of the NDB Bank after receiving the observations of the Finance Ministry.

He said some countries like Bangladesh have obtained the membership of NDB Bank whereas they have not obtained BRICS membership.

Sri Lanka applied for BRICS membership at its Summit held in Russia last month. BRICS represents nine countries including Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was unable to attend the Summit because of the parliamentary election, and the Secretary of the Foreign Affairs Ministry represented Sri Lanka.