Context:
CreditAccess Grameen, India’s largest NBFC-MFI, has raised a $100 million multi-currency syndicated social loan, marking a significant development in India’s microfinance and external borrowing landscape.
Key Highlights:
- Loan Size: $100 million
- Loan Type: External Commercial Borrowing (ECB)
- RBI Automatic Route
- First-of-its-kind ECB in India’s microfinance sector
- Currency Mix: Japanese Yen and US Dollar
- Participating Banks: 7 banks, mainly from South Asia and Far East
- Borrowing Cost: Highly competitive
- Lower than the company’s average cost of borrowing
- Comparable to domestic borrowing rates
Strategic Implications
- Use of Funds: To support social impact and financial inclusion through microloans
- Foreign Debt Target: Raise share of foreign borrowings to 25–30% by FY28
- Institutional Support: Second syndicated social loan led by Standard Chartered Bank
- Earlier, a $200 million ECB was raised in 2023 with the same lead arranger
About CreditAccess Grameen
- Founded: 1999
- Headquarters: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
- MD: Udaya Kumar Hebbar
- CEO: Ganesh Narayanan
- Stock Listings: NSE and BSE
