Beijing: The New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS countries, which got its first 'AAA' rating this week, plans to tap into the Indian Rupee offshore market as part of its efforts to raise capital, according to a top bank official. The Shanghai-based NDB - floated by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) - is headed by renowned Indian banker K V Kamath. Japan Credit Rating Agency Ltd (JCR) on Tuesday assigned 'AAA' foreign currency long-term issuer rating with a stable outlook to NDB, the first such rating acquired by the Bank since it started functioning four years ago.
"It is the safest of investment ratings. If you are a AAA issuer, essentially it means that there's almost zero probability of you ever defaulting. That's what the rating agencies effectively telling investors out there," NBD Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Leslie Maasdorp said. "India, for example, is BBB- on investment grade, South Africa has one rating at investment grade, China is A+, Brazil is sub-investment grade and Russia is BBB+. So, basically, what we have now, is that the NDB is rated significantly higher than weighted average of our members," he said.
