Against this background, the NDB should rather be seen as a complement to, rather than a challenge or as competition to existing Bretton Woods institutions. In the future, the World Bank and the NDB may look to co-operate and by so doing, enhance the international development financing system. The NDB is well under way in mobilising resources for infrastructure development projects.
Nevertheless, mere suspicion about an erosion of asset quality can be a serious problem if it undermines people’s confidence in the central bank and, in turn, in the national economy. Such loss of confidence could, for example, result in Japan’s commercial banks and firms paying an unnecessary premium when raising funds in other countries.