(Yicai Global) Aug. 2 –  After receiving AAA-rating by two domestic rating agencies in China, the New Development Bank (NDB), formerly referred to as the BRICS Development Bank, will seek an international agency rating to be able to issue the US dollar bonds in 2018, an executive of the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) said in an exclusive interview with Yicai Global.

NDB vice president and chief financial officer Leslie Maasdorp told Yicai Global that since its founding two years ago, NDB had a rapid development of its business. "This year the bank will speed up in both the number of projects and financing, and the number of projects will double to 15 projects," he said. The new projects will focus on transportation, he revealed.

The issue of foreign currency bonds has also been on NDP's agenda. "The bank needs to be rated by an international rating agency before it can issue dollar denominated bonds," he explained.

Maasdrop expects the dollar bond issue to take place next year. However, as the currencies of most of the BRICS countries are volatile, the bank will try to raise money in the local currency in the future to reduce the risk of currency mismatches.

NDB was invested by five BRICS member countries, China, Brazil, Russia, South Africa and India, with each country representing 20 percent of the voting rights. Its initial capital was USD100 billion, with an initial investment of USD50 billion and an equal contribution by the five founding members.

NDB has issued seven loans in the past two years, with each of them in one of the BRICS member countries, including two further steps to increase loan amounts in India and China. The loans were mainly for renewable energy projects.