RBI unveils draft ECB policy...to relax some rules

The RBI proposed to allow domestic companies to borrow money from pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance funds as part of the ECBs.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday proposed relaxing some rules for domestic companies looking to raise funds through the external commercial borrowing (ECB).

The RBI said that companies will now be able to borrow up to US$50mn in ECBs with 3-year maturities and more than US$50mn for 5-year maturities. The previous limits had been ~US$20mn.

The RBI also said that it would now allow real estate investment trusts (REIT) and infrastructure investment trusts (IIT) to raise rupee-denominated funds offshore.

The RBI proposed to allow domestic companies to borrow money from pension funds, sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) and insurance funds as part of the ECBs.

The draft framework on ECB proposed to lower the all-in cost borrowing by 0.50% to ensure that the funds are borrowed from abroad at a reasonable interest rate.

The modification in the ECB guidelines are aimed at replacing the current ECB policy with a more rational and liberal framework.

The RBI has invited comments on the draft ECB policy till 1st October.