SHANGHAI, August 16. /TASS/. BRICS’ New Development Bank (NDB) has issued its debut ZAR bonds worth 1.5 bln rand ($77.9 mln), the bank announced in a statement on its website.

The bond issue has received the highest rating on this market since 2015. It also become the first issue of NDB bonds in local currency outside China, where the headquarters of the banks is located.

"The orderbook was well diversified with 71% of bids being allocated to institutional investors and the remainder taken up by local banks," according to the statement.

"NDB is seeking to increase its presence in the local capital markets of its member countries, to fund its robust portfolio of local currency loans. The proceeds will be used to fund infrastructure and sustainable development projects in South Africa and the successful outcome sets the benchmark for future issuances by NDB," said Leslie Maasdorp, NDB Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer as quoted by the bank’s press service.

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.

The Bank was assigned international credit ratings of AA+ by Fitch Ratings and S&P Global Ratings, which make it possible to effectively raise long-term funding on international and local capital markets.

Over the years, the bank has approved 98 projects for a total of $33.2 billion in areas such as transportation, water supply, clean energy, digital and social infrastructure, and urban construction.