Page 13 - Banking Finance August 2019

HOUSING

HOUSING

NEWS
NEWS
NEWS
NEWS
NEWS

Indiabulls HFL refuses PNB Housing Finance raises Rs 690 crore from IFC
PNB Housing Finance has raised Rs 690 crore ($100 million) from International
charge of misappropriating Finance Corporation (IFC) via the external commer-
Rs 1 lakh cr from NHB cial borrowing (ECB) route to boost its liquidity posi-
tion and balance the company’s long-term asset li-
Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd
ability management position. The company also said
(IBHFL) has
it will use the funds for on-lending to buyers in the
rejected alle-
affordable housing finance projects.
gations in
Rajya Sabha This is the maiden fundraising via the ECB route in 2019-20 by PNB Housing Fi-
Member nance. The company further said that other ECB proposals are in the pipeline.
Subramanian Swamy's letter circu- Sanjaya Gupta, managing director of PNB Housing Finance, said, “The fully-
lating in social media, alluding mis- hedged facility has come at a landed cost that is much lower than the domestic
appropriation of more than Rs 1 lakh pricing for similar tenures.”
crore from the National Housing “Raising of ECB under the present market environment and that too from a
Bank (NHB). multilateral financial institution like the IFC demonstrates the strength of PNB
In a notice to the stock exchanges, Housing Finance and the faith of the lending community in the sector,” added
IBHFL said, “We wish to highlight the Gupta.
following facts regarding the same: “The RBI has allowed us to borrow ECB up to $750 million annually under the
Loans outstanding as on date from automatic route. Considering the strong fundamentals and inherent growth of
NHB to Indiabulls Housing is zero. the company, we are hopeful that in the coming months, our company will fur-
Indiabulls Housing, in its history, has ther utilise the facility,” said Gupta.
never taken any loan or refinancing “To support the government’s vision of housing for all by 2022, our country strat-
facility from NHB. The total loan egy places a strong emphasis on the affordable housing sector,” said Hemalata
book of Indiabulls Housing is Mahalingam, Manager–financial institutions group, IFC South Asia.
approximatey Rs 87,000 crores."
IBHFL has moved to the RBI seeking
a merger with Lakshmi Vilas Bank at
the backdrop of some housing fi-
nance companies facing liquidity
squeeze following the IL&FS imbro-
glio and asset-liability mismatches.

BANKING FINANCE | AUGUST | 2019 | 13