Norms for external commercial borrowing eased
By Our Banking Bureau | 10 Jan 2004
New Delhi: The Government today announced a new liberalised external commercial borrowing (ECB) which would allow automatic approvals for borrowings with an average maturity of five years and above.
The
Reserve Bank of India has been asked by the Ministry
of Finance to announce the details of the new guidelines,
the Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh said. The automatic
route for borrowings of maturity of five years and above
would be allowed as long as they are utilised for investment
in "critical sectors", infrastructure and
small and medium enterprises, Mr Singh added.
He
said that the new scheme would aim at minimising discretionary
elements beside simplifying and rationalising procedures.
It would also promote transparency to all ECBs.
The
Finance Minister said the new policy, which has been
reviewed in consultation with RBI, would enable corporates
to access resources from international markets at competitive
rates.