MUMBAI: Banks have mobilised $72.8 billion of foreign-currency inflows under RBI’s special swap facility as of Aug 21, with the pace of mobilisation accelerating sharply in recent weeks. Foreign currency non-resident (bank) or FCNR(B) deposits accounted for $65.4 billion of the total, while overseas foreign currency borrowings (OFCBs) contributed $4.9 billion and external commercial borrowings (ECBs) $2.6 billion, as per RBI data released Saturday.The pace of mobilisation has increased almost every week. Inflows rose from $40.8 billion on July 31 to $56.9 billion on Aug 13 and $72.8 billion on Aug 21. Banks, therefore, added $32 billion in the three weeks to Aug 21, taking cumulative inflows to nearly 1.8 times the July-end level. FCNR(B) deposits rose from $36.7 billion on July 31 to $52.3 billion on Aug 13 and $65.4 billion on Aug 21. The latest weekly increase of $13.1 billion followed an increase of $15.6 billion in the preceding week.HSBC, SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have emerged as the top mobilisers, with other large private-sector lenders also stepping up efforts to tap their NRI networks. PSBs, barring SBI and a few others, have been slower to scale up. Bank-wise data for June 5 to July 30 showed HSBC as the largest incremental mobiliser at $6 billion, followed by SBI at $4 billion, ICICI Bank at $3.7 billion. HDFC Bank added $1.4 billion, while Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank mobilised $1.7 billion and $1.6 billion.The mop-up has helped forex reserves rise nearly $10bn during the week ended Aug 15. According to bankers, reserves will cross the all-time high of $728 billion by end Aug.The sharp response has prompted RBI to bring forward the closure of the FCNR(B) mobilisation window. When the facility was introduced on June 8, banks had been allowed to mobilise eligible deposits until Sept 30. RBI subsequently decided that only deposits mobilised up to Aug 31 would qualify, while the corresponding swaps for FCNR(B) deposits can be undertaken with RBI until Sept 11. The ECB and OFCB components will continue until Dec 31. RBI said the change was prompted by the “encouraging response” and resultant forex inflows.The facility has given banks a way to raise foreign-currency funding while transferring much of the currency-risk management to RBI. Fresh FCNR(B) deposits with a tenor of three to five years qualify for the concessional USD-INR swap. Eligible deposits also receive regulatory relief on CRR and SLR requirements.
