New Delhi, July 20 (IANS) The Reserve Bank of India’s swap facility for offering concessional swaps for fresh foreign currency non-resident bank deposits [FCNR(B)] deposits, External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) and Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings (OFCBs), has succeeded in attracting forex inflows to the tune of $20,718 million as on July 17, 2026, according to the Central Bank statement issued on Monday.
The amount has flowed in since the scheme was operationalised on June 8 this year. The figures are based on the data received from Authorised Dealer Banks show that as much as $17,406 million of this amount was mobilised through FCNR(B) deposits, while another $1.970 million came via OFCBs while ECBs accounted for the remaining $1,342 million.
“The swap facility has seen avid interest and attracted steady forex inflows since June 8,” the RBI statement said.
The RBI had announced a series of measures to strengthen the country’s balance of payments and incentivise capital inflows. These included a facility for offering concessional swaps for fresh FCNR(B) deposits, OFCB and ECB inflows, on June 5, 2026. This facility was operationalized on June 8, 2026, and is available up to September 30, 2026, for the FCNR(B) deposits and up to December 31, 2026, for the OFCBs and ECBs.
The chiefs of public sector banks and financial institutions also informed Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week that there was a strong response from NRIs to the higher interests rates and incentives that have been announced across foreign currency non-resident bank deposits [FCNR(B)] deposits, External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs) and Overseas Foreign Currency Borrowings (OFCBs) swap initiatives.
The banks expect funds flowing in from NRI’s to pick up further momentum as they have stepped up their outreach to the Indian diaspora.
The Finance Minister called upon banks to further intensify their outreach to the NRIs, introduce innovative deposit products and sustain the momentum of mobilisation during the remaining period of the schemes.
The managing directors further informed that banks are offering attractive returns on FCNR(B) deposits, including on five-year deposits, supported by the suspension of the interest rate ceiling on fresh FCNR(B) deposits under the scheme.
The MDs and CEOs stated that there has been significant interest from NRIs residing in Singapore, Hong Kong, the West Asia, the United Kingdom, the United States and other overseas jurisdictions.
They outlined their plans to capitalise on the positive sentiment and accelerate deposit mobilisation during the remainder of the scheme period and expressed confidence that ECB mobilisations would gather stronger traction during the third quarter of the current financial year (October-December 2026).
–IANS
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