Leslie Maasdorp at his office in Sandton.
New Development Bank, the multilateral lender founded by the BRICS group of emerging-market countries, aims to increase the share of funding it raises in local currencies to 30% from less than 20%, according to its chief financial officer.
“We will increase the use of local currencies,” CFO Leslie Maasdorp told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the BRICS meetings in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
“It does not mean we are de-dollarising or moving away from the dollar. It just means that we are raising more local-currency financing.”
NDB expects to become a regular issuer in South Africa after its inaugural sale of 1.5 billion rand ($79 million) in bonds this week, he said. The Shanghai-based lender registered a program to sell up to 10 billion rand in debt on the Johannesburg exchange in 2019.
NDB also plans to issue bonds in Indian rupees this year for the first time and is in talks with regulators to register a $2.5 billion programme over five years, Maasdorp said.
But most of the bank’s funding — about 70% — will continue to be denominated in dollars, he said.
“The bank’s capital is in US dollars. Our reporting currency is US dollars. So the dollar is hot-coded in the DNA of the bank,” he said.
We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
In times of uncertainty you need journalism you can trust. For 14 free days, you can have access to a world of in-depth analyses, investigative journalism, top opinions and a range of features. Journalism strengthens democracy. Invest in the future today. Thereafter you will be billed R75 per month. You can cancel anytime and if you cancel within 14 days you won’t be billed.
#BRICS #bank #aims #increase #local #currency #borrowing
