The BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) has issued what it calls its debut ZAR bonds worth 1.5 billion rand ($78 million) on the South African bond market, and has received the highest rating in the market since 2015, the bank announced yesterday on its website (https://www.ndb.int/news/ndb-issues-zar-1-5-billion-bond/). It is the first time the NDB has issued bonds in local currency outside China, where the bank is headquartered in Shanghai. Although $78 million is not a large amount of capital, the action reflects the bank’s policy under its new President Dilma Rousseff, which is to significantly increase the capitalization of the bank in local currencies, by floating bonds in BRICS member nations. Rupee-denominated bonds are next to be offered in India. (Rousseff was President of Brazil in 2014, when the BRICS decided to form its bank at the summit in Fortaleza.)
“The orderbook was well diversified with 71% of bids being allocated to institutional investors and the remainder taken up by local banks,” the bank’s press release stated.
