Canada to lobby G7 nations to take part in new defence bank, foreign minister says

VAUX-DE-CERNAY, France, March 26 (Reuters) - Canada will pitch plans for a new defence bank to G7 nations, urging them to join an initiative aimed at providing critical financing for small and medium‑sized defence firms that struggle to access capital, its foreign minister said on Thursday.

Ottawa has been leading the push in recent months for a defence and resilience bank (DSRB)as part of Prime Minister Mark Carney's effort to bolster co-operation between NATO members and other ​allies and has been hosting meetings in Montreal to establish a charter for the multilateral financial institution.

"The capital available is going to depend on the number of countries that participate, and Canada is certainly advocating for more and more countries to come on board, and I will be presenting such an argument here at the G7 foreign ministers' (meeting)," Anita Anand told Reuters in an interview.