BRICS New Development Bank to loan $2.5b in 2017

BEIJING - The New Development Bank (NDB), a multilateral financial institution set up by BRICS, is expected to offer loans $totaling 2.5 billion this year, according to a Chinese official Thursday.

While the NDB approved loans totaling $1.55 billion last year to seven programs on sustainable development, more loans are expected to be approved later this year, said Zhou Qiangwu, director of the International Economics and Finance Institute, a think tank under the Ministry of Finance.

According to Zhou, the bank has made a lot of progress since it went into operation more than two years ago. For example, yuan-denominated green bonds with a value of 3 billion yuan ($454.5 million) were issued, while the Africa Regional Center of the NDB in Johannesburg was launched earlier this month.

"The NDB is like a baby of the five nations," Zhou said.

As leaders from the BRICS countries gather during the upcoming summit in China's southeastern coastal city of Xiamen from Sept 3 to 5, the NDB is likely to see more progress, such as agreements to fund new projects in the five countries, Zhou said.