Bank of the South sets launch date on Nov. 3 in Venezuela

The Bank of the South — once just a gleam in the eye of South American leaders — now has a due date.

Finance Ministers from seven nations announced Monday that the multinational funding institute, which will operate similarly to the Inter-American Development Bank, will be founded Nov. 3 in Caracas, Venezuela.

The bank is the brainchild of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has been promoting it as an alternative to the International Monetary Fund, which he blames for perpetuating poverty and contributing to inflation in Latin America.

"We can now say that the Bank of the South is about to become reality," Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega told reporters in Rio de Janeiro. "It will finance integration and will be open to all of South America's 12 countries."

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