ICICI Bank Ltd. has launched a $1.45 billion syndicated offshore loan, joining a growing wave of Indian lenders tapping international debt markets to benefit from lower hedging costs. The nation’s second-largest private bank initially signed a $1 billion agreement with Bank of America Corp. and is now expanding the four-year deal—priced at a margin of 110 basis points over SOFR—to lenders including Mizuho Bank, Mashreqbank, and United Overseas Bank. This borrowing follows ICICI Bank’s $1 billion five-year bond sale last month, its first international issuance in nearly a decade, alongside talks for an additional $500 million in offshore bonds. The rush into dollar funding across Indian financial institutions is spurred by Reserve Bank of India (RBI) measures introduced in June to support the rupee against geopolitical headwinds. The RBI’s temporary swap facility offers banks a concessional fixed annual rate of 1.5% for foreign-exchange swaps with maturities of three years or longer—significantly below prevailing market rates. With the RBI window closing on December 31, Indian banks raised $2.58 billion in dollar debt between early June and late July, while ICICI Bank leverages the initiative backed by strong second-quarter earnings and nearly 20% growth in its loan portfolio.
