Special dollar swap windows net $22.7 billion: RBI

The Reserve Bank on Wednesday said it has received $ 22.7 billion from special concessional windows for swapping foreign currency non-resident (bank) deposits and overseas foreign currency borrowings.

The Reserve Bank had announced the schemes on September 4 to support the rupee, which had shed close to 30 per cent between April and August.

The special window allows banks to swap fresh FCNR (B) dollar funds, mobilised for a minimum tenor of three years, at a fixed rate of 3.5 per cent per annum.

The RBI also allowed banks to borrow up to 100 per cent of their tier-I capital from overseas, which can be swapped with the central bank at a concessional rate of 100 basis points below the ongoing swap rate prevailing in the market.

The central bank did not provide the break-up of the fund flows from the two windows.

The measures have helped the rupee gain almost 11 per cent.

Last week, economic affairs secretary Arvind Mayaram had said that the FCNR (B) window could fetch the government $25 billion. The facility will be open till November 30.