Exim Bank to raise $1 bn from overseas

"We will be raising $1 billion (about Rs 4,400 crore) from overseas markets through bonds by the end of March 2006," T C Venkat Subramanian, Exim Bank chairman told PTI.

Out of the $1 billion, Subramanian said the bank has already raised $100 million. The remaining $900 million will be raised in 6-7 months time.  The loans, to be raised in tranches, will be of various maturities ranging from 1-10 years.

The resources will be used for funding export contracts and providing lines of credit to overseas entities -- governments, central banks, commercial banks, development finance institutions, regional development banks for financing import of goods and services from India.

The bank had raised Rs 7,000 crore (Rs 70 billion) last year from markets including $500 million from foreign shores through Euro bonds, European floating notes and other instruments.

State-owned Exim Bank is the principal financial institution in the country that provides finance, facilitates and promotes foreign trade in India.

Export and Import Bank of India has set 31 per cent growth in loan disbursement at Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion) during this fiscal to support export of Indian goods and services.

During 2004-05, it had disbursed loans to the tune of Rs 11,435 crore (Rs 114.35 billion). The loan sanction is estimated to be 13.5 per cent higher at Rs 18,000 crore (Rs 180 billion) in this fiscal as against Rs 15,853 crore (Rs 158.53 billion) in the last fiscal.

The bank has already signed agreements for providing LoCs worth $1.5 billion this year and they are at various stages of implementation.

Recently, it provided LoCs worth $240 million to six African nations -- Ghana ($87 million), Congo ($33.5 million), Mali ($27 million) and Cote d'Ivoire ($26.8 million), Chad ($50 million) and Equatorial Guinea ($15 million).

The LoCs to Ghana, Mali Cote d'Ivoire, Chad and Equatorial Guinea are part of the Team-9 initiative of Government of India.

Team-9 envisages a special cooperation model between India and eight countries of West Africa -- Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Senegal.

The bank had extended line of credits amounting to $423 million in the last fiscal. Exim Bank extends lines of credit to developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America at the behest of the government of India.

India has set a trade target of $500 billion in the next three years.