New Delhi, Sep 2 (IANS) ICICI Bank has mobilised about $17.88 billion through foreign currency non-resident (FCNR-B) deposits under the Reserve Bank of India’s special dollar-rupee swap facility, the lender said in an exchange filing on Wednesday.
Of the funds mobilised, loans provided by the bank’s international branches and subsidiaries against such deposits amounted to about $9 billion, while standby letters of credit issued by the bank to other lenders against loans backed by such deposits stood at about $3.63 billion, it added.
However, reports claim that over $100 billion have been mobilised via RBI’s dollar deposit scheme.
In addition, ICICI Bank said it had issued an aggregate $3.55 billion of US dollar-denominated bonds during July and August 2026.
The disclosures come after the RBI’s special USD-INR forex swap facility for FCNR(B) deposits, external commercial borrowings and overseas foreign currency borrowings closed for FCNR(B) deposits on August 31.
The RBI had introduced the facility on June 8 to boost foreign exchange inflows amid pressure on the rupee.
Moreover, authorised dealer banks had mobilised $72.848 billion in forex inflows under the scheme as of August 21, according to the central bank with FCNR(B) deposits accounting for $65.397 billion.
While ECB and OFCB inflows under the facility contributed another $7.451 billion as of August 21. The facility for ECBs and OFCBs remains open until December 31, 2026.
The government had said in August that the scheme had generated a surge in foreign exchange inflows and described it as the largest and fastest foreign-currency mobilisation exercise undertaken by India, surpassing the scale of the 2013 FCNR(B) swap scheme.
The RBI had initially announced that the FCNR(B) window would remain open until September 30 but advanced its closure to August 31, citing the encouraging response and sufficient mobilisation of foreign exchange.
–IANS
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