China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) has revealed that a new bank, the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank (AIIB), would expectedly go into operation before the end of 2015.
23 Asian countries including India, China, and Pakistan signed an inter-governmental memorandum of understanding on the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank for regional development.
MOF said that the founding nations of the bank are expected to complete negotiations over and subscription of the bank's charter and regulations before June this year, the China Daily reported.
A MOF statement also revealed that the Maldives became the latest prospective founding member of the bank after a consensus was reached among the 22 existing members on Dec 31.
The MOF said that any country interested in the AIIB is welcome to join them in the venture.
The AIIB is an inter-governmental regional development institution in Asia and has an authorized capital of 100 billion dollars, with the initial subscribed capital expected to be around 50 billion dollars, the report added.
