(July 20): The Reserve Bank of India’s measures allowing lenders more room to offer attractive rates on overseas deposits to non-resident Indians have garnered US$17.4 billion (RM71.21 billion) until last Friday, the regulator said in a statement.

Firms have also raised US$1.34 billion via so-called external commercial borrowings, the RBI said, adding that overseas foreign currency borrowings netted another US$1.97 billion.

In all, the RBI said the forex deposit programme, which was being subsidised by the central bank since it was bearing the entire hedging costs, was witnessing avid interest and had attracted steady inflows.

“This is a very healthy start to capital inflow scheme,” Gaura Sen Gupta, chief economist, IDFC First Bank, said over the phone. “Given the pace, there could be upside risk to our estimate of overall FCNR-B inflows of US$50 billion into the scheme.”

The measures including the attractive foreign currency deposits are part of wider efforts by policymakers to attract foreign capital and support the rupee. The currency is trading near record lows, despite multiple attempts to support it, as high oil prices hurt the nation’s balance of payments.

The central bank released data on foreign-exchange inflows based on submissions from authorised dealer banks. The facility will remain open until Sept 30 for fresh foreign currency non-resident deposits and until Dec 31 for ECBs and OFCBs.

The latest figure should bode well for FY27’s net BoP, with inflows from the FCNR and external commercial borrowing plans “still expected to reach $60–75 billion during the stipulated window", said Madhavi Arora, lead economist at Emkay Global. RBI has finally put the “low FCNR mobilisation narrative to rest", she said.

The swap window allows eligible banks and borrowers to swap eligible foreign-currency inflows with the RBI at a concessional rate, reducing hedging costs and making overseas fundraising more attractive.

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