ISLAMABAD: The Economic Affairs Division (EAD) has signed an agreement with French Agence Française de Développement (AFD) of Euro 180 million soft loan for three grid stations and transmission line of National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC), official sources told Business Recorder.
The loan is meant for Sialkot, Arifwala and Vehari grid stations and transmission lines to connect them with Discos network.
For each drawdown, the borrower may select a fixed interest rate or a floating interest, which shall apply to the amount set out in the relevant drawdown request, by stating the selected interest rate, i.e., fixed or floating, in drawdown request delivered to the lender substantially in the form subject to the following conditions: floating interest rate - regardless of the amount of the requested drawdown, the borrower may select a floating interest rate, which shall be the percentage rate per annum, being the aggregate of six month Euribor with 79 basis points and the margin.
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In case of the first drawdown, if the first interest period is less than 135 days, the applicable Euribor shall be one month Euribor if the first interest period is less than 60 days or three months Euribor if the interest period is between 60 days and or 135 days.
Regarding the fixed interest rate provided that the amount of a requested drawdown is equal or greater than Euro 3 million, the borrower may select a fixed interest rate for such requested drawdown. The fixed interest rate shall be the fixed reference rate increased or decreased by any fluctuation of the index rate for the period from the signing date until the relevant rate setting date.
According to re-lending terms and conditions, NTDC shall pay interest rate of 12 per cent inclusive of average borrowing cost of 3.50 per cent. Fixed admin charges 0.75 percent, Exchange Risk Cover (ERC) 5.10 per cent and spread 2.65 per cent shall be charged both on principal and interest rate separately based on the principal amount of the loan withdrawn and outstanding from time to time, with the actual redemption period available to the GoP. In addition one-time Fixed Administrative Charge (FAC) of 0.25 per cent will be applicable on the amount of loan disbursed to the borrower.
In case of default by the borrower in payment of due amounts that remain unpaid for 30 days after the due date, penal interest @ 2 per cent per annum will be charged for the period of default.
All charges and fees including commitment charges, etc., if any, payable by the GoP to the foreign lenders will also be borne by the NTDC in addition to amounts of principal and interest.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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