The International Monetary Fund, IMF, has said it is following with "great interest" the recent announcement by leaders of the BRICS countries Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to establish a development bank. IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice told a news conference in Washington that the IMF is following this initiative with great interest as it seeks to address the infrastructure gap in developing countries.Earlier, the World Bank while welcoming the BRICS announcement in Durban, had said that it was ready to work closely with the new bank to end poverty and build shared prosperity throughout the developing world.