MUMBAI: To deepen the nascent corporate bond market, the RBI proposed allowing banks to provide partial credit enhancements to the debt instrument.  The central bank has released a draft circular on allowing partial credit enhancements to corporate bonds and invited comments from stakeholders by the end of next month. 

“With a view to encouraging corporates to avail of bond financing, it has been decided to allow banks to provide partial credit enhancements to bonds issued for funding infrastructure projects by companies or special purpose vehicles,” the RBI said in a release.

The objective of the move is to enhance credit ratings of the corporate bonds raised to set up infrastructure projects. It is also seen as a way of enabling companies to better access the funds from the corporate bond market.  Credit enhancement reassures that the borrower will honour the obligation. It reduces default risk and thereby increases the overall credit rating.

It said since the corporate bond market is in a nascent stage of development, there is a pressure on the banking system to fund the credit needs of the infrastructure sector.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said because of asset-liability mismatch in infrastructure financing, banks are exposed to liquidity risks.

“The insurance and provident, pension funds whose liabilities are long term, are better suited to finance infra projects,” the central bank said in the draft guidelines.  In July last year, the RBI had proposed allowing banks to offer partial credit enhancements to corporate bonds.  The RBI further said banks should have a board-approved policy on partial credit enhancements covering issues such as permissible types of credit enhancements, assessment of risk, and setting limits.