Bank of Baroda debt raise tops $1 billion under central bank's window

MUMBAI: India’s Bank of Baroda has raised $400 million through reissuance of its 5.3180% August 2031 U.S. dollar denominated bonds at a higher yield, becoming the second state-owned bank and the fifth issuer overall to tap the central bank’s discounted funding window for more than $1 billion, merchant bankers said.

BoB, India’s second-largest state-run lender by assets, will offer a yield of 5.3890% on the reissue, the bank said in a notice to stock exchanges.

Earlier in the month, BoB had raised $400 million through three-year bonds at a 5.1140% coupon and $300 million through five-year notes at a 5.3180% coupon.

The lender had sold these notes at a spread of 90 basis points and 100 bps over Treasuries, respectively.

The latest fundraise will take the total quantum raised by the bank to $1.1 billion, equivalent to the amount raised by the nation’s largest lender, State Bank of India.

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Indian lenders have now raised an aggregate of $11.65 billion through dollar bonds between June-August, with ICICI Bank leading the chart, accounting for more than a quarter of the amount.

Banks are scrambling to complete dollar bond sales, with most proceeds likely being used to provide leverage to depositors under the central bank’s discounted dollar deposit scheme, for which the hedging window shuts Monday.