Delegates
of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) attend a special
meeting of New Development Bank Board of Governors in Washington D.C., the
United States, April 14, 2016 [Xinhua]
BRICS Bank announces first set of loans
April 16, 2016, 4:16 am
The New Development Bank, the just-opened institution
co-owned by the BRICS countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South
Africa, has announced its first investments.
The BRICS Bank on Friday announced that its Board of
Directors has approved its first set of loans involving financial assistance of
$811 million, to be disbursed in tranches, supporting 2,370 MW of renewable
energy capacity.
The fifth board of directors meeting was held in Washington
on the sidelines of the IMF and the World Bank group spring meetings.
The new lender is providing $300 million to Brazil, $81
million to China, $250 million to India and $180 million to South Africa.
The project from India entails provisioning of a
multi-tranche loan of $250 million to Canara Bank for lending to renewable
energy ventures.
“Each loan modality is different based on project specific
features and borrower preferences. Government approvals, where necessary, will
be sought as part of follow-up procedures,” said a statement from the New
Development Bank.
The first batch includes four projects, one each in Brazil,
India, China and South Africa.
“This is an important milestone for the Bank and we are
delighted to have met the goals and the time schedules envisioned by the
leaders of the BRICS countries. With this we embark on a journey to provide
speedy assistance to projects across developing nations. We are pleased that
the projects deal with green and renewable energy and hope they will act as
catalysts for development in our member states,” BRICS Bank President Kundapur
Vaman Kamath said in Washington.
The BRICS have brought in capital of $1 billion as initial
contribution for the new lender.
“There are many more new projects in the pipeline including
projects from Russia. They are at various stages of consideration or
appraisal,” the NDB spokesperson said.
The NDB board has approved the issuance of five-year bonds
in Chinese yuan, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov was quoted on Friday
as saying.
“The bank will raise funds on the Chinese market
and once it receives a rating from international rating agencies it will also
tap international markets,” Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted Siluanov as
saying.
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