Jakarta. Indonesia has set aside an undisclosed amount of funds to buy some shares in the BRICS-sponsored New Development Bank, according to a senior minister, as the multilateral lender requires members to make paid-in capital payments.

Under President Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia's relations with BRICS -- a China-led bloc of emerging economies -- has witnessed some major progress. Jakarta officially came onboard as a BRICS member in January, and did not take long to announce interest at its lender New Development Bank, also known as NDB. This bank has financed its members’ transport infrastructure and renewable energy projects. Back in late May, Chief Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto revealed that Indonesia had to put in “a sum of money” before it could join the NDB, although the bank would accept seven installments. Airlangga recently gave some updates to the NDB bid. 

"It has been approved for us [Indonesia] to pay the paid-in capital,” Airlangga said on the sidelines of the 2025 Investor Daily Summit on Thursday.

Asked the amount of money Indonesia had to invest, Airlangga only responded: “There are calculations, but I forgot how much.”

Airlangga, once again, also did not say the exact timeframe of Indonesia’s membership. 

“[We want to be part of the NDB] as soon as possible,” the minister said. 

Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa -- the countries that made up the BRICS acronym -- established the bank in 2015. They made an initial subscription of 500,000 shares totaling $50 billion. Each of the founding members currently holds 18.76 percent of the shares. NDB later expanded with Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, and most recently, Algeria with the subscribed capital ranging from 1.04 to 2.24 percent. 

Bangladesh and the UAE had fully paid their first, second, and third installments of the paid-in capital, the NDB reported. Egypt is only done with the first installment. The bank has greenlit Uruguay’s candidacy, but Montevideo will only officially join after it deposits its instrument of accession. No member holds veto power.

The bank has an initial authorized capital of $100 billion.

The NDB has approved $39 billion in financing that go to 120 projects, some of which are related to sanitation programs and renewable energy. However, the bank had only greenlit financing for the five founding economies so far, while projects from Bangladesh and Egypt are still waiting for approval. The UAE is a non-borrowing member.

Prabowo made the BRICS bank candidacy announcement during a visit by NDB President Dilma Rousseff in late March. Prabowo at the time said that Indonesia would “follow the procedures and requirements”, while adding that the bank could be a “strong booster” to the country’s transformation strategy. 

"It's our main interest to have Indonesia in the bank. … Indonesia has long-term planning or a clear vision of what it wants to do, … as well as the medium-term ones," Rousseff told reporters, while also pointing out Prabowo’s list of 77 of the so-called national strategic projects.

These priority projects include the nationwide free meal rollout and palm oil production chain development.

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