Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank boosted by bloated project book

Project approvals have more than doubled from $2b in March 2017 to $5.3b in July.

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank’s credit profile remains stable as it steps up its investment operations in the past year, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

Project approvals have more than doubled from $2b in March 2017 to $5.3b by end-July with most loans co-financed with other large multilateral development bank.

“The stable outlook reflects our expectation that AIIB will maintain the strength of its standalone credit metrics beyond its initial growth phase and into the next decade,” added Moody’s.

AIIB’s capital base is also expected to remain large in respect to its assets as its balance sheet continues to expand over the next ten years, giving the bank enough fuel to invest in Asia’s infrastructure.

“Policies have been formulated in a manner that mitigates credit risk, contains leverage and preserves profitability. Moreover, Moody's assumes that strong asset performance will be supported by the bank's preferred creditor status, similar to other multilateral development banks (MDBs),” added Moody’s.