HDFC sees to upsize foreign loan to $1 billion as RBI eases ECB rules

By siliconindia  |  Monday, 11 July 2022, 09:28:42 AM IST

HDFC sees to upsize foreign loan to $1 billion as RBI eases ECB rules
Country's largest mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp is set to become the first Indian borrower to take advantage of the Reserve Bank's increased external commercial borrowing limit under the automatic route from $750 million or its equivalent per financial year to $1.5 billion.
HDFC is looking to upsize its foreign loan to around $1 billion from $750 million earlier, the Economic Times reported on July 11 citing people familiar with the matter.
Funding costs will remain the same, it added.
The non-banking finance company will use the additional funds to lend to buyers of low-cost affordable homes.
India's largest public-sector lender State Bank of India is also joining the syndication process that already has confirmed participation from Mizuho Bank, MUFG and Standard Chartered Bank, according to the report.
The minimum average maturity requirement for ECBs in the infrastructure space raised by eligible borrowers has been reduced to three years from earlier five years.
Additionally, the average maturity requirement for mandatory hedging has been reduced to five years from earlier ten years, the central bank announced.
Since the war in Ukraine broke out in late February, RBI has expended its foreign exchange reserves in order to shield the rupee from steep depreciation.

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