2013 was a difficult year for the five BRICS countries. China and Brazil faced slowing growth, South Africa and India were hit by currency instability, and concern over Russia's governance deepened (before recent events in the Ukraine pitched them into all-out crisis). As doubts have mounted, investors have increasingly turned back to traditional investment destinations like the United States and Europe, as well as to new formations like the MINTs (Mexico, India, Nigeria and Turkey).
Talk over a decline of the BRICS is overstated, but to ride out this difficult period for the group, renewed effort needs to be placed on developing hard institutions, most importantly the BRICS development bank.
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