Preparations are going smoothly for the New Development Bank (NDB) for BRICS countries as well as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), officials said Wednesday.

The NDB, initiated by BRICS members - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - is expected to approve its first loans in April 2016, said NDB Vice President Vladimir Kazbekov at a seminar.

The bank has already received loan applications and is hoping to issue its first loan to an energy-efficient project, Kazbekov said.

The NDB is scheduled to start operations at the end of this year or early 2016.