Exim Bank to raise Rs 19,500 cr in ’09-10, to lend Rs 36k cr

KOLKATA: Exim bank has decided to raise Rs 19,500 crore from the global and domestic market during 2009-10. It hopes to lend about Rs 36,000 crore this year.

���Last year, we raised about Rs 17,650 crore from market. Of this, $1.1 billion (Rs 5,000 crore approximately) was raised from foreign markets, while another Rs 11,700 crore was raised from Indian financial markets.

During 2009-10, we hope to raise a total Rs 19,500 crore, of which $1 billion will be raised from foreign markets and the balance Rs 14,500 will be done from domestic markets,��� said TC Venkat Subramanian, chairman and managing director, EXIM bank.

Asked what kind of instruments EXIM bank was looking at in overseas markets, Mr Subramanian said: ���If the Samurai bonds become cheaper, which is likely, we will go for them.���

Samurai bonds are yen-denominated and issued in Tokyo by non-Japanese companies and are subject to Japanese regulations. The proceeds from the issuance of samurai bonds can be used by non-Japanese companies to break into the Japanese market, or it can be converted into the issuing company���s local currency to be used on existing operations.

The bank is also looking at opening line of credits to the tune of $780 million in Latin America and African countries. ���These will be signed in the next few months,��� said Mr Subramanian.