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The first president of the New Development Bank K. V. Kamath speaks at the 2nd annual meet of the new lender in New Delhi on 1 April 2017 [Image: BRICS Business Council]
The bank is headquartered in Shanghai.
On Saturday, Kundapur Vaman Kamath, the President of the NDB said the new lender plans to fund 15 infrastructure projects in member countries worth upto $3 billion this year, double that of last year.
Earlier last year, the BRICS Bank funded 7 projects worth nearly $1.5 billion.
It also approved loans amounting to $900 million to green projects in each member state.
India’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley also addressed the BRICS Bank annual meet on Saturday.
“I hope that NDB will emerge as a development bank and help in funding of emerging economies… The NDB was established with core mandate to finance sustainable projects,” Jaitley said.
BRICS nations account for 43 per cent of the world’s population and are seeking greater sway in global finance to match their rising economic power.
The first regional office of the BRICS Bank will be set up in Johannesburg, South Africa and “will be the face of NDB for the continent”.
BRICS members, China, India and Russia are also the three largest shareholders in the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
Both the BRICS Bank and the AIIB will extend China’s financial reach and compete not only with the World Bank, but also with the Asian Development Bank, which is heavily dominated by Japan.
TBP
