BRICS Plans to Issue First Bonds in Indian Rupees

Vladimir Kazbekov, the Chief Operating Officer of the BRICS Development Bank, announced that the bank aims to issue its first bonds in Indian rupees by October. This comes as the new bank faces pressure to raise funds in local currencies and expand lending from them. In a press conference today, ahead of the BRICS summit set to begin tomorrow in Johannesburg, he mentioned that the bank issued its first bonds in rand, the official currency of South Africa, last week and may consider issuing bonds in local currencies of member countries such as Brazil and Russia. He added, "We might tap the Indian rupee market by October in India... We have started to seriously consider using the currencies of member countries to finance projects in that currency in another member state. For example, we will use the Chinese yuan to finance a project in South Africa instead of the dollar." Kazbekov declined to disclose the size of the bonds the bank is targeting to issue in Indian rupees. Reuters had previously reported that work was underway to launch such bonds. The National Development Bank was established in 2015 and represents the most tangible achievement for BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – as they aim to establish the bloc as a counterweight to the West. However, the already slow pace of lending has been hampered by sanctions imposed on Russia.