Dilma Rousseff on New Development Bank (NDB)

Dilma Rousseff's core position on the New Development Bank, of which she is the President, is overwhelmingly positive, viewing it as a necessary and transformative counterpoint to traditional Western-led financial structures. She emphasizes that the NDB is fundamentally a bank made by the Global South for the Global South, ensuring that member countries control its governance and set its priorities without external conditionality. This perspective is evidenced by her focus on using the bank to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs), aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement.

The institutional context of her leadership reinforces this stance, as she views the NDB's creation as a political declaration of intent to reform the international financial architecture, which she argues is urgently needed. A key implication of her leadership is the strategic push to increase financing in local currencies—aiming for 30% of total financing—to reduce member countries' vulnerability to exchange rate shocks from hegemonic currency fluctuations. Furthermore, she frames the NDB as a means to promote equity, foster economic autonomy, and amplify the voice of the Global South in global economic discussions.