BRICS to Surpass G7 Within 2-3 Years in Terms of Joint GDP | #Politics, #News

#Politics: BRICS to Surpass G7 Within 2-3 Years in Terms of Joint GDP 08.06.2015 The joint gross domestic product (GDP) of BRICS countries will exceed that of the Group of Seven (G7) member states in the next two to three years, a senior Russian official said Monday. *** Earlier in the day, the first-ever BRICS Parliamentary Forum began in Moscow bringing together lawmakers from five of the world’s major emerging economies, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, to discuss issues of mutual interest, including economic development. "Given that the BRICS countries mostly show a much higher growth rate than the countries of 'Big Seven,' we can assume that in the next two or three years, the combined GDP of the BRICS member states will surpass the same indicator of G7 nations", Alexei Pushkov, head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of Russia's parliament, told reporters. The lawmaker said that in 2014 the BRICS states' joint GDP growth stood at 30 percent, which is only 7-8 percent less than that of the G7 countries. "According to the International Monetary Fund, the BRICS countries have a combined GDP of $32.5 trillion, while the G7 states have a joint GDP of $34.7 trillion," Pushkov added. BRICS Parliamentary Forum in the Russian capital coincided with the annual summit of the G7 countries, namely Germany, the United States, France, Italy, Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan, being held on June 7-8 in Bavaria, Germany. Russia is not attending the event as its participation in the group’s meetings was suspended in 2014 over its alleged role in Ukraine conflict, which Moscow has repeatedly denied. ***[Txt Credit: Sputniknews] Related: US to Lose Its Ground Under BRICS Pressure 06.06.2015 Blind adherence to US policies and the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions have turned fatal for Europe; the axis of Russia-China-BRICS is set to overturn the global economic system and to prevail over the hegemony of the US, according to the chief economist of the German Bremer Landesbank. *** The real damage to the EU countries caused by the launch of anti-Russian sanctions is much more comprehensive than that estimated by the statistics, Folker Hellmeyer, chief economist of the German Bremer Landesbank told in an interview with Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten. “The slump in German export volume by 18 percent in 2014 and by 34 percent for the first two months of 2015 is just the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “There are much more of the side-effects.” “European countries, like Finland and Austria, who have strong developing businesses in Russia, place fewer orders within Germany. Moreover, the European corporations evade sanctions and create high-efficient production facilities in Russia. We, therefore, lose this potential capital stock, which is the basis of our prosperity, and Russia wins.” The relationship of trust between Russia and Germany and the EU is somewhat broken. And it will take years to rebuild it. As the result, such companies as Siemens and Alstom have lost major projects in Russia, he said. The potential damage not only for Germany but for the whole of the EU, therefore, is much more comprehensive than what is being shown by current figures. Meanwhile, Moscow, Beijing and other BRICS countries are looking forward to building the largest projects of the modern history: the construction of new Eurasian infrastructure from Moscow to Vladivostok, in South China and India. Participation of the Western countries in these mega-projects looks quite uncertain, Hellmeyer said. “For me, the conflict has already been set,” he said. “The axis Moscow-Beijing-BRIC has won. The West had enough. In 1990 th, these countries accounted for about 25% of world economic output. Now, they represent 56% of world economic output, and account for 85% of world population. They control about 70% of the world's foreign exchange reserves. They grow annually by an average of 4% — 5%. Since the United States has not been prepared to share the power worldwide, nor to build the emerging market sector on its own financial system, it lost.” Neither problem in the world nowadays can be solved without Moscow or Beijing, said the economist. The lack of its own agenda makes the EU and Germany look like a loser. “The longer we pursue this policy in the EU, the higher is the price. The less one will take us seriously as an interlocutor,” he added. ***