S&P assigns lowest investment grade rating to ICICI debt p'gme

NEW DELHI: Global rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) has assigned the lowest investment grade rating to ICICI Bank's debt programme to raise Rs 2,835 crore (350 million pounds) for funding international operations.

The 'BBB-' rating reflects the medium grade quality of the bonds, which may be unreliable over the long term.

ICICI Bank proposes to issue senior unsecured three-year fixed-rate notes through its Bahrain branch for raising the amount.

The bank plans to use proceeds of the programme to meet the funding requirements of its international operations and for general corporate purposes, S&P said in a release here today.

The outlook on the rating is stable, the release said.