5 banks of BRICS nations sign pact for credit lines: Report

BEIJING: Five banks of the BRICS Bank Cooperation Mechanism have agreed to establish credit lines in the national currencies and cooperate on credit ratings.

The agreement was signed ahead of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in China's Xiamen city tomorrow in which leaders of the five countries, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi are scheduled to take part.

"Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), Vnesheconombank, Export-Import Bank of India, China Development Bank and Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) have signed an agreement to establish credit lines in the national currencies, as well as a memorandum of cooperation on credit ratings," Russian news agency TASS Reported.

There was no word from Export-Import Bank of India in this regard.

The Chinese official said "the decision was taken in order to bolster further cooperation."

The agreement on credit ratings reportedly enables them to share information about internal credit ratings and rating assessment.

Ahead of the BRICS summit, the New Development Bank (NDB) of the BRICS countries has approved USD 1.4 billion loans for sustainable development projects in China, India and Russia.

The Board of Directors of the bank have approved four infrastructure and sustainable development projects in the three countries, the NDB had said.

For India, the Bank has approved USD 470 million loan for Madhya Pradesh's Multi-Village Rural Drinking Water Supply Scheme Project.