AIIB finances 9 projects worth US$1.73 bln in 2016

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) [File photo]

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) financed nine projects totaling US$1.73 billion during its first year of operation in 2016, people.com.cn reported.

AIIB will expand its operations in the future, and the annual loans issued are expected to reach US$10 to US$15 billion in the next five to six years, according to its president Jin Liqun.

AIIB has established and improved its structure and had a good start since it was launched on Jan. 16, 2016. It has 57 founding member countries, among which 75 percent are from Asia. The number of AIIB members is expected to hit nearly 90 this year.

In June 2016, AIIB approved US$509 million worth of loans to support four projects in energy, transportation and urban development in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Tajikistan.

The second batch consisted of a loan of US$320 million for two projects, which was approved by the bank’s board of directors in late September. The loans will support, together with the World Bank, the expansion project of a hydropower station in Pakistan, as well as a power plant in Myanmar supported with financing from other multilateral development banks and commercial banks.   

AIIB also issued two loans of around US$301 million to Oman in December. This is the first time AIIB offers funding to port and railway projects and  provides loans to a country on the Arabian Peninsula.

Later in the same month, AIIB issued a US$600-million loan for the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP) project.