Ufa (Russia) : Setting “ambitious targets” for himself as the first chief of $100-billion New Development Bank (NDB), eminent banker K V Kamath said it will bring about a change in the way multilateral banks function but there is no question of any “rivalry” amongst them.
Kamath also said that the new bank, set up by India and four other members of the BRICS grouping, will strive to approve its first loan before end of the current fiscal. Stating that funding requirements are huge at USD 1-2 trillion for each BRICS country, including India, Kamath said he sees other multilateral lending institutions such as IMF, World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) as “partners, not rivals” in working for growth of the developing world.
Kamath, 67, has been given a five-year term as the first President of NDB, which the five BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) had agreed to set up last year.
The NDB is being touted as a major alternative to other multilateral institutions and its USD 100-billion Contingent Reserve will also help the member countries draw funds in times of short-term liquidity requirements. “There are parallels with other multilateral institutions, but we will set our own standards at the New Development Bank,” Kamath told PTI.
Asked whether he sees a rivalry or complementary roles for NDB and other multilateral institutions, Kamath said, “There will be no competition at all. The market is big enough for all of us. We all will be major partners in the development of India and other developing markets.”
“One of the areas that we will focus is that lenders want the borrowers to follow a certain timeline. We need to see what innovation is required to ensure that this timeline is met or to try and reduce this timeline.
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‘market is big enough for all of us’
l No rivalry with other multilateral banks like IMF, World Bank or ADB: Kamath
l NDB will strive to approve its first loan before end of the current fiscal
l On his focus areas as the first President, Kamath said, “Innovation is something that we will try to bring about in the working of the multilateral banks.
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