Bhutan will not join the new global financial institution called the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) anytime soon. The global financial institution was founded by China recently in a bid to finance infrastructure development in the Asian region and abroad.
All south Asian nations including India, Nepal and Bangladesh became members of the bank recently.
“There is no urgency to join any new bank or take any new loans.” the Prime Minister, Tshering Tobgay, during yesterday’s Meet the Press session, said.
Lyonchhen said the government has so far not talked about joining the new bank. He said the country was in the middle of its 11th Five Year Plan and all the required finances for the plan period, in the form of internal revenue, external borrowings, grants, and aid for the plan period are secured.
The draft debt policy being formulated by the government today sets a limit of 35 percent on the amount of non-hydropower loan the government can borrow.
“We want to be careful not to overextend the amount of loans that we take especially when it came to non-hydropower loan,”
Lyonchhen said the government today has access to external borrowing from the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Kuwait Fund.
However, if there is a need to finance big infrastructural projects, Lyonchhen said, the government will definitely consider joining other banks, including the AIIB, but that might happen in the distant future.
