Indian lenders’ dollar bond sales hit record near $9 billion
The deals have gathered pace since the RBI in early June announced the concessional foreign-exchange swap facility for banks and state-run firms to shore up a weakening rupee, boosting domestic liquidity and supporting credit growth
Indian financial institutions have sold nearly $9 billion in dollar bonds so far this year, surpassing the previous record of $7.92 billion in 2019, according to Bloomberg data. ICICI Bank Ltd. raised $750 million from US-denominated debt on Monday, bringing the 2026 total to $8.85 billion. The surge in dollar bond issuance has been driven by the Reserve Bank of India's concessional foreign-exchange swap facility, which lowers hedging costs for overseas borrowings and supports credit growth by bolstering domestic liquidity.
The facility, which is open until Dec. 31, prompted lenders to accelerate their offerings. The central bank also set up a special window to attract foreign-currency deposits, but it closed early after the nation drew more than $50 billion from its citizens overseas. This premature closure led to a selloff in shorter-tenor India bonds, as the rupee liquidity supporting demand was reduced.
Despite the temporary halt, analysts expect Indian banks to continue rushing to the dollar bond market in the coming weeks.
Written by urgent.news from Hindu BusinessLine's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
