Exim Bank to tap European mkt to raise funds

KOLKATA: Exim Bank of India for the first time would tap the European market to raise foreign currency loans as part of its target to raise $800 million forex loan in the current financial year to reap maximum benefit from cross-currency management.

In the last fiscal, Exim bank raised Yen from Japanese market through Samurai bonds.

"We are going for Medium-Term-Note from the European market which is a first by Exim Bank. This would leverage us in saving interest during transition period of the loan," Exim Bank chairman and managing director T C Venkat Subramanian said on Friday on the sidelines of the banking conclave organized by FICCI (East).

Exim Bank would raise a total foreign currency loan worth $800 million and Rs 6,000 crore in Indian Rupee loan by way of bonds and commercial papers. Of this, the bank has already raised $150 million and Rs 1500 crore.

Exim Bank was aiming to increase the loan sanction by 25 per cent in the current year. In 2005-06 the total sanction from the bank was Rs 20,489 crore.

In 2005-06 the bank earned a net profit of Rs 271 crore.

Exim Bank has invested $10 million in Pan-Asia Project Development Fund which has a corpus of $100 million. IL&FS and Orix Corporation were other invstors. The fund would cover Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Vietnam and would promote Indian projects there.