South American economy ministers agreed this week to launch a planned regional development bank in June to rival other multilateral lenders, but postponed a decision on what the bank’s start-up capital would be.

Ministers from Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Paraguay on Tuesday agreed at a meeting in the Paraguayan capital, Asunción, that all founder members would have equal stakes and decision-making power in the future lender. The statutes are to be drawn up by a technical committee, which meets in early June in Buenos Aires, before being ratified by a summit of presidents later next month.