The New Development Bank will hopefully approve its first batch of loans in the next quarter, bank president K.V. Kamath said on Saturday, speaking at a briefing prior to a signing ceremony for the "BRICS bank" established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS).
The NDB set up by the BRICS countries signed an agreement with China to place its headquarters in Shanghai.
The agreement was signed by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Kamath at a special ceremony, which was attended by RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and IMF chief Christine Lagarde.
Describing the New Development Bank as a "worthwhile venture", Rajan said the multi-lateral bank has gotten off to a good start raising hopes of energising the investment and financing of infrastructure projects.
"It is off to a good start. Let us all wish it a success and see where it goes. Hopefully, it energises more investment and financing in infrastructure," Rajan said.
"It is a co-operative effort between all BRICS countries. We have already reached contingency reserve agreement (CRA). This is second. Let's see how it develops. Lots of hopes embedded in it for greater cooperation (among the) BRICS countries," he told reporters during a brief interaction.
Talking about the Indian economy, Kamath said India will eventually touch double digit growth rate despite bottlenecks like the stalemate over Goods and Services Tax (GST) as it has conducive conditions.
"I am wearing a different hat. I will talk wearing that hat. India is one of outlier in what is happening around the world. In economic context we are stable. We have both the deficits under control," he said, commenting on the economic survey which predicted 7 to 7.5 per cent growth this year.
"We have very conducive climate with very low commodity prices and low oil prices. This is what is required for driving growth. We have that in our grasp now," he said.
"So I can not think of any other country of this size and magnitude which is poised for growth like India is. So time perfectly is right for India to break out of the shell," Kamath said while talking to PTI.
"The government has clearly set in motion whole lot of things. They will take time to take root. My view is India is well set to start looking at and start touching double digit growth in the same time period. It won't happen overnight but it will certainly get there. The conditions are very conducive," he said.
Asked about the bottlenecks like the stalemate over the GST slowing down the reforms, Kamath argued that India in the past grew despite facing more severe bottlenecks.
"India had more severe bottlenecks. Ultimately to get out of the bottlenecks, growth is the only palliative. Growth gets you out of the bottlenecks. If you are doing 7 or 7.5 per cent growth, very quickly that growth will have such a transformational impact that it will overcome these bottlenecks. It will have a cascading influence," he said.
