Page 6 - Banking Finance May 2022

BANK UPDATE

"The successful launch of syndicated
ECLGS to include new borrowers loan at such a fine pricing demon-
The Finance Ministry expanded the scope of the Rs 5 lakh-crore Emergency strates the kind of reputation SBI has
Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to support MSMEs engaged in travel, created for itself in offshore financial
tourism and hospitality sectors to overcome the impact of the COVID-19 pan- markets allowing it to efficiently raise
demic impact. funds even during ongoing turbulence
in the markets caused by geopolitical
The coverage, scope and extent of benefits under ECLGS 3.0 pertaining to
tensions and rate hike expectations by
hospitality, travel, tourism and civil aviation sectors have been expanded, the US Federal Reserve and other central
ministry said in a statement.
banks across the globe," its Managing
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman while announcing the Budget 2022-23 Director Ashwini Tewari said.
had extended the validity of the scheme by another one year till March 2023, MUFG, Bank of America and JP Mor-
and also increased the total amount to be sanctioned under the scheme from gan were the joint lenders for this of-
Rs 4.5 lakh crore to Rs 5 lakh crore. fering whereas Fist Abu Dhabi Bank
As per the latest modification, new borrowers, in the sectors covered under acted as the facility agent. It is another
ECLGS 3.0, who have borrowed between March 31, 2021, and January 31, step towards the bank's commitment
2022, will now be eligible to avail the emergency credit facilities. Also, the to develop IFSC Gift City as an interna-
credit limit for eligible borrowers has been increased to 50 per cent of their tional financial hub, the release said.
fund-based credit outstanding from 40 per cent earlier.
Coins worth Rs. 11 crore

Gupta, who was speaking at Global count fund transfer platform had missing from SBI vaults;
Business Summit, said that there is a crossed 400 crore transactions in the CBI to probe
better use case of wholesale cross-bor- month of October 2021, hitting a new The CBI has taken over the probe into
der central bank digital currencies record. the case of coins worth Rs 11 crore
(CBDC). The record numbers for four weeks in going missing from the vaults of the
March comes after a marginal decline
"I don't think that crypto currencies SBI branch in Mehandipur Balaji in
in February this year when the value
will become money as we know it, but Rajasthan, officials said.
it can be an alternative to gold and its of retail transactions dipped to Rs 8.27 State Bank of India (SBI) had ap-
value," Gupta said. "The other big chal- lakh crore from Rs 8.32 lakh crore in proached the Rajasthan High Court
lenge is volatility in value. If you want January 2022. seeking a CBI probe into the matter as
to use this to pay for something, you The number of transactions in February the missing amount was higher than
don't know what it's costing you. also dipped marginally to 452 crore from Rs 3 crore, the threshold for seeking a
Cryptos are a potential source of 461 crore in January. The payment chan- probe by the agency.
speculated value, it's unlikely that this nel, which is only five years old, grew On the high court's directions, the CBI
from zero in June 2016 to a billion trans-
is a source of money as we know it." has taken over the FIR earlier regis-
actions a month in October 2019.
tered by the Rajasthan Police.
In a 1st, UPI transactions
SBI raises $500 million via The matter came to light after the SBI
hit 5 billion in March branch decided to carry out counting
IFSC Gift City branch of money after a preliminary enquiry
Transactions under the Unified Payments State Bank of India (SBI) said it has
Interface (UPI) crossed the 5-billion indicated discrepancy in the cash re-
raised USD 500 million (over Rs 3,800 serve at the bank.
count for the first time in March 2022 - crore) through its IFSC Gift City branch.
two days ahead of the month end. This is the first offshore USD Secured E-resolution for payment

According to data shared by the Na- Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) linked dispute by Sept: NPCI
tional Payments Corporation of India syndicated loan raised by SBI through
(NCPI), UPI recorded 504 crore trans- its Gift City branch, a release said. The The National Payments Corporation of
actions up to March 29 for a value of facility is for USD 400 million plus USD India (NPCI) has asked all banks, pay-
Rs 8,88,169 crore. The account-to-ac- 100 million as a green shoe option. ment service providers (PSPs) & third-

6 | 2022 | MAY | BANKING FINANCE