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Govt may borrow from RBI to pay bilateral debt
New Delhi, Aug 22: The central government is likely to borrow foreign exchange from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to pay $1.5 billion in bilateral debt ahead of schedule this year and repay it in rupees, a government official said on Thursday.
New Delhi, Aug 22: The central government is likely to borrow foreign exchange from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to pay $1.5 billion in bilateral debt ahead of schedule this year and repay it in rupees, a government official said on Thursday.
India, which is sitting on record foreign exchange reserves, has said it would pay this amount to more than a dozen countries in the year to March 2004. It repaid $2.8 billion worth of multilateral loans last year.
"It is simply a question of refinancing. Like we did last year, we will borrow dollars from the RBI for prepayment," the official, who declined to be identified, said.
"We will pay the central bank after borrowing locally. We have not decided the exact timing yet. But we will do it soon."
"It is simply a question of refinancing. Like we did last year, we will borrow dollars from the RBI for prepayment," the official, who declined to be identified, said.
"We will pay the central bank after borrowing locally. We have not decided the exact timing yet. But we will do it soon."
The countries include the Netherlands, the Russian Federation, Canada, Sweden, Italy, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, Kuwait, Spain, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Australia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
The RBI’s foreign exchange reserves have been hitting successive record highs over the past year on the back of steady foreign investment, trade and expatriate inflows. They touched nearly $85 billion on August 8. Bureau Report