The New Development Bank will soon start lending to private-sector companies, says Vivian Ramathuba, senior professional at the bank's African Regional Centre in Johannesburg, assisted by the fact that it could lend in US dollars or rands. But greater oversight is clearly needed to ensure the loans are not abused. Cash-strapped South Africa is increasingly tapping the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) for badly needed infrastructure financing.
And it is likely to tap the bank more frequently after the imminent issue of the NDB's first Rand-denominated bond -- for R10 billion -- on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.