China-headquartered The New Development Bank is looking to issue 5 billion yuan worth of bonds under a board-approved 10 billion-yuan bond program, Reuters reported May 28.
The development lender will issue the bonds "during the course of 2018," and will conduct another yuan-denominated bond issuance within the next two years, CFO Leslie Maasdorp said. The majority of the proceeds will be used for projects in China, Maasdorp added.
Meanwhile, the bank's plans to issue bonds in currencies belonging to its other member countries were shelved as it aims to complete its international credit rating exercise before tapping the markets, according to President K. V. Kamath.
In addition, the lender entered into a memorandum of understanding with State Bank of India to collaborate on a number of areas including loan services, settlement agency business, cash management and personal finance. It also signed an agreement with Development Bank of Southern Africa to work together on operations, treasury management as well as experience and knowledge exchange, among other areas.
The New Development Bank is a multilateral development lender operated by the BRICS states including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
As of May 28, US$1 was equivalent to 6.40 Chinese yuan.
