NDB likely to add 15 new members
Says AMA Muhith
Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said the New Development Bank (NDB), a multilateral development bank set up by the BRICS states, is likely to take in 15 new member countries in the first phase.
“They [NDB] are not thinking of having a very large membership base. They are targeting to grant memberships to 15 states in the first phase. The process is yet to begin,” he told The Daily Star yesterday.
The minister made the comment after holding a meeting with NDB President KV Kamath in Washington DC.
The NDB was set up in 2015 by the BRICS nations Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
Asked whether the bank had primarily selected Bangladesh, he said the NDB was yet to select any country.
“They [NDB] are yet to select the first batch of countries…. Once they have selected the 15, they would conduct studies on the countries.”
Muhith said the NDB's policy was quite different from any other bank. “It's a very different bank because they are saying that they won't impose any programme on any country.”