India’s largest public sector lender, State Bank of India (SBI), sought a loan of USD 1.25 billion, potentially making it the largest dollar-denominated bank loan from the country’s financial sector in 2024, a report by Bloomberg said quoting sources.
The loan is being raised for general corporate purposes through its branch at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, the report said.
SBI is yet to comment on the matter.
It further mentioned that the CTBC Bank, HSBC Holdings Plc and Taipei Fubon Bank are arranging the five-year loan, which carries an interest margin of 92.5 basis points over the risk-free Secured Overnight Financing Rate, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters.
With this development, SBI is joining a growing list of local borrowers in raising foreign currency debt this year, with non-banking finance companies (NBFCs), leading the charge due to stricter domestic regulations.
Cholamandalam Investment & Finance Co. is the latest Indian NBFC to secure a $300 million syndicated term loan, while Union Bank of India’s Sydney branch is marketing an A$125 million ($81 million) three-year loan. Additionally, Bank of Baroda is in the process of raising a $750 million loan.
Recently, the State Bank of India has released its quarterly results reporting a 27.92% increase in net profit year-on-year for the July-September 2024 quarter.
Bank’s net profit reached Rs 18,331 crore in Q2FY25, up from Rs 14,330 crore in the same quarter last year.