China-based New Development Bank, AIIB making progress: Officials

Beijing: The New Development Bank set up by BRICS nations is expected to approve its first loan in April while the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will begin formal operations next year, senior officials said Wednesday.

The NDB, initiated by BRICS members -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- is expected to approve its first loan next April, said NDB vice president Vladimir Kazbekov at a seminar.

The bank has already received loan applications and is hoping to issue its first loan to an energy-efficient project, Kazbekov said.

He also said the bank plans to increase its staff to 100 from 20, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Aimed at financing infrastructure projects, mainly in BRICS countries, the NDB opened in Shanghai in July and is scheduled to start operations at the end of this year or early 2016.

"Work is also going well for the multilateral AIIB, with formal operations beginning next year," Chen Huan, who is in charge of preparations for the bank's launch, said.

India and 56 other countries joined the Beijing-based AIIB. The bank will invest in sectors like energy, transportation, urban construction and logistics as well as education and health care, Chen said.

China is accelerating the approval process for the AIIB agreement, which will lay the legal framework for the bank, said Zheng Quan, an official with the Ministry of Finance.

With authorised capital of USD 100 billion, the AIIB is designed to finance infrastructure in Asia.

China, India and Russia are its three largest shareholders.