2 weeks ago
ICICI Joins Indian Banks Chasing Dollar Loans, Swelling Demand
ICICI Bank is one of the biggest banks in India, and it wants to borrow a lot of money — about $1.45 billion — in US dollars from banks around the world.
It started by agreeing to borrow about $1 billion from Bank of America, a big American bank.
Now it is asking other banks, like Mizuho Bank, Mashreqbank and United Overseas Bank, to join in too.
The money is a loan that lasts for four years, and ICICI will pay interest that is 1.10 percent higher than a special world interest rate called SOFR.
This is happening because India's central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, is offering a special deal that makes borrowing dollars cheaper.
The deal lowers the cost of protecting against the risk that the value of money changes.
The central bank wants more US dollars to come into India to help make India's money, the rupee, stronger.
The rupee had been getting weaker because of a war that involves the country Iran.
Many Indian banks are rushing to borrow dollars before the special deal ends on December 31.
Since the deal started in June, Indian banks have already borrowed $2.58 billion.
ICICI Bank Ltd., India's second-largest private lender, launched a syndicated offshore loan of about $1.45 billion.
The bank first signed a loan agreement with Bank of America Corp. for about $1 billion and is now upsizing the deal to lenders including Mizuho Bank Ltd., Mashreqbank PSC and United Overseas Bank Ltd.
The four-year loan carries a margin of 110 basis points over the US benchmark Secured Overnight Financing Rate, with more lenders possible at the same pricing.
The borrowing follows ICICI's $1 billion five-year bond sale last month, its first international debt issue in nearly a decade.
Indian banks have raised $2.58 billion from dollar bond and loan markets since the Reserve Bank of India's concessional swap facility began on June 8; the window closes by December 31.
- Who
- ICICI Bank Ltd., India's second-largest private lender; participating lenders include Bank of America Corp., Mizuho Bank Ltd., Mashreqbank PSC and United Overseas Bank Ltd.
- What
- Launched a syndicated offshore loan of about $1.45 billion — a four-year facility priced at 110 basis points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, following a $1 billion five-year bond sale last month.
- Where
- India — the Mumbai-based lender's offshore dollar bond and loan markets.
- When
- Deal reported on August 14, 2026; the RBI's concessional swap facility window closes by December 31.
- Why
- To capitalize on the Reserve Bank of India's concessional foreign-exchange swap facility (fixed 1.5% annual rate) that lowers hedging costs and attracts foreign-currency inflows to support the rupee, battered by the Iran war.
Key facts
- Bank
- ICICI Bank Ltd.
- Loan size
- About $1.45 billion syndicated offshore loan
- Loan terms
- 4-year maturity; 110 basis points over SOFR
- Initial lender
- Bank of America Corp. (about $1 billion)
- Prior bond sale
- $1 billion in five-year bonds last month
- RBI swap facility rate
- Fixed annual rate of 1.5% (average maturity at least 3 years)
- Facility deadline
- December 31
- Indian bank offshore fundraising
- $2.58 billion from June 8 through end of July
Sources
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