New Development Bank issues R24.3bn of panda bonds

The New Development Bank (NDB) issued 8.5bn yuan (R24.3bn) worth of panda bonds in China's interbank bond market on Monday to mobilise resources for financing sustainable development projects, the bank said.

Proceeds will be used for general corporate resources and to finance infrastructure and sustainable development projects, it said.

The issuance came on the eve of the bank's eighth annual meeting, set to take place in Shanghai on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Dilma Rousseff, NDB president and former president of Brazil, said during the meeting's opening ceremony the bank would look to work more closely with other multilateral and national banks.

It will also look to finance more projects in local currency to protect borrowers from currency fluctuations, she said. To date, the NDB has loaned $33bn (R652bn) to more than 96 projects in its five founding-member countries, according to its website.

Reuters

Other speakers at the opening ceremony included Chinese vice-premier Ding Xuexiang, Chinese finance minister Liu Kun and Anton Siluanov, Russia's finance minister.

Headquartered in Shanghai, the NDB was set up in 2015 by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, collectively known as the Brics countries.

Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt have joined the bank in the years since and Uruguay is in the process of joining.

Saudi Arabia is also in talks to join the bank, the Financial Times reported this month.