BRICS vow to coordinate actions to protect their economies

The BRICS account for a fifth of the world's economic output and 40% of its population

The BRICS emerging nations said on Thursday they were worried about the volatility of global financial markets and oil prices and agreed to coordinate efforts to keep their economies stable.

Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa finally launched the group's largest initiatives to date - a development bank and a currency pool - and called at a summit for a swift deal on curbing Iran's nuclear programme.

For Russian President Vladimir Putin, hosting the summit in the city of Ufa, the launch of the bank and the pool had been a key priority, as was the group's ability to sound more unified than at some previous meetings.

"We are concerned about the instability of the markets, the high volatility of energy and commodity prices, and the accumulation of sovereign debt by a number of countries," Putin said.

"These imbalances affect the growth rate and our economies. In these circumstances, the BRICS states intend to actively use their own resources and internal resources for development," he added, without giving details.

"Let's go hand-in-hand to build a great BRICS partnership," Chinese President Xi Jinping told the group.

The BRICS account for a fifth of the world's economic output and 40 per cent of its population.