BRICS New Development Bank may cut rates on loans granted to businesses - Russian official

MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. The BRICS New Development Bank may offer lower rates on loans to finance business projects than the rates offered by national banks in the BRICS member states, head of Russia’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergey Katyrin told TASS. Speaking after the meeting of the BRICS Business Council in Durban (South Africa) he said: "The (BRICS) bank should be better than the national banks in terms of lending, its terms should be much attractive. If Russia now has rates from 8.5% to 11% for businesses, the bank should offer rate below 8%. If in China the rates are 6-7 %, then the bank should offer rates lowe than 6%, so that people trust this bank and begin to work with it, "he said. According to Katyrin, this issue was discussed with the management of the New Development Bank at the meeting of the BRICS Business Council. "Our delegation also expressed hope that the bank will devote more time to ensuring mutual settlements in national currencies, and the bank agreed with this proposal. There are all conditions for providing companies with the opportunity to conclude contracts in national currencies," Katyrin said. The agreement on establishing the BRICS New Development Bank was reached on July 15, 2014 in Brazil’s Fortaleza. The bank’s starting capital was set at $100 bln. The Shanghai-headquartered bank has been set up to finance infrastructure projects and projects for sustainable development of BRICS and other developing countries. South Africa will host the BRICS Summit on July 25-27. Read more