CreditAccess Grameen, India’s largest microfinance institution, is actively mobilizing a $175 million (approx. ₹1,460 crore) overseas syndicated social loan from a consortium of international lenders, including DBS Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, and The Korea Development Bank.
The Bengaluru-based NBFC-MFI signed the formal agreement for the facility, which carries an average tenure of 3.25 years and is priced at 6% (pegged at 215 basis points over the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, currently at 3.85%, plus applicable hedging costs).
Chief Financial Officer Nilesh Dalvi noted that while hedging costs have seen a temporary uptick, the overall impact on the company’s borrowing costs remains contained, as this foreign facility accounts for roughly 7% of its total liabilities. The loan qualifies as an External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) under the Reserve Bank of India’s automatic route.
Key highlights of the transaction include:
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Diverse Global Lender Consortium: Beyond the lead arrangers, participants include SBI (Mauritius), BCP Bank (Mauritius), Sri Lanka’s Commercial Bank of Ceylon and Sampath Bank, UAE’s Al Masraf and National Bank of Ras Al Khaimah, and Hong Kong’s KEXIM Asia. Standard Chartered and DBS served as the joint mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners.
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Optimized Asset-Liability Management (ALM): CreditAccess Grameen aims to fulfill 15% to 20% of its annual borrowing requirements through ECBs to diversify its funding mix and leverage longer tenures for stronger balance-sheet alignment.
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Sustained International Trust: Having mobilized $640 million in overseas loans over the past five years, foreign borrowings now comprise approximately 24% of the company’s overall liability profile.
