The New Development Bank set up by the BRICS group of emerging economies plans to fund 15 infrastructure projects in member countries worth upto USD 3 billion this year, the bank's president, KV Kamath, said on Thursday.
The bank also plans to raise USD 300 million to USD 500 million in rupee-denominated bonds, called "masala" bonds, in the second half of the year, Kamath told Reuters in an interview in New Delhi.
The BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -agreed to create the New Development Bank in July 2014 with an initial authorised capital of USD 100 billion. The lender was officially launched a year later.
Last year, the bank, headquartered in Shanghai, funded 7 projects worth nearly USD 1.5 billion, said Kamath, who ran India's ICICI Bank from 1996 until 2009.
