NDB receives AA+ rating from S&P, cementing its access to global financial markets

SHANGHAI, Aug. 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Global Ratings (S&P) today announced it has assigned its AA+ long-term and A-1+ short-term issuer credit ratings with a stable outlook to New Development Bank (NDB). Earlier this month, Fitch Ratings (Fitch) announced that it had assigned NDB a long-term issuer default rating (IDR) of 'AA+' with a stable outlook and a short-term IDR of 'F1+'.

In its press release S&P stated, "The ratings reflect our opinion that NDB will establish itself as a catalyst in reducing the infrastructure deficits faced by its BRICS members". S&P assessed NDB's financial profile as extremely strong, reflecting its robust capitalization and ample liquidity. S&P acknowledged robust shareholder support as a key rating factor underpinning its assessment of NDB's strong business profile.

The full press release announcing S&P's decision is available here.

"Today marks a momentous step for NDB towards establishing itself as a premier multilateral development finance institution," said K. V. Kamath, President of NDB, commenting on S&P's rating announcement. "Given the scale of our future ambitions, the AA+ ratings from S&P and Fitch put the Bank in an exceptional position to mobilize financial resources at competitive rates thereby greatly enhancing our lending capacity to our members. These ratings also mark the beginning of an exciting period for the Bank wherein it will look to establish itself as a benchmark issuer in global capital markets. This milestone enables the Bank to offer a full suite of financial products to its public and private sector clients. The AA+ ratings from the two agencies are a recognition of the Bank's strong financial profile as well as an endorsement of its prudent future growth plans and sound risk management practices. We are proud of this exceptional achievement, which would not have been possible without the strong support that we have received from our shareholders."

The document entitled "New Development Bank Assigned 'AA+/A-1+' Ratings; Outlook Stable", dated August 29, 2018 is entirely the copyright of, and is reproduced with the permission of S&P.

About NDB

New Development Bank is a multilateral development bank established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries, complementing the existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global growth and development. To fulfill its purpose, NDB will support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments.