New Development Bank to Receive International Investment Rating by q3, 2016 – Russia’s Finance Ministry

TASS

MOSCOW, March 22. /TASS/. The New Development Bank BRICS (NDB BRICS) plans to obtain an international investment rating from one of the “big three” rating agencies (Moody’s, S&P, Fitch – TASS) by the third quarter of 2016, Director of the Department of International Financial Relations at the Russian Finance Ministry Andrey Bokarev said Tuesday.

“As of now the bank has already received an AAA investment rating in China. It is now in talks with the “big three” rating agencies. We expect the issue to be resolved closer to the third quarter,” he said. According to Bokarev, there is no consensus regarding whether the financial institution needs the highest investment rating. “On the one hand, big institutes such as the World Bank with AAA ratings serve as guidemarks, but on the other hand this implies certain restrictions for a new institution without experience and reputation from the viewpoint of creation of reserves and the need to keep funds in accounts,” the official said. As was reported in end-February, the New Development Bank obtained the highest AAA rating from two Chinese raters – China Lianhe Credit Rating Co and China Chengxin International.

The New Development Bank BRICS is a multilateral development bank operated by the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) as an alternative to the existing US-dominated World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The financial institution was set up to foster greater financial and development cooperation between the five emerging markets.

BRICS is an informal association of five major emerging national economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The group was founded in June 2006 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and was known as BRIC prior to inclusion of South Africa in 2011. The agreement to establish the New Development Bank was signed on July 15, 2014 in Brazil.