Mumbai:
The Reserve Bank of India has asked all commercial
banks to cut the interest rate on loans given to exporters
in sectors like textiles, leather and handicrafts by
two percentage points, following government''s decision
to offer relief to exporters hit hard by rise in rupee
value.
In
a notification published late on Friday on its website,
RBI said pre-shipment credit up to 180 days, and post-shipment
credit up to 90 days, should be 4.5 per cent below prime
lending rate against 2.5 per cent earlier.
RBI,
in its notification, said that interest relief of two
percentage points should be given to nine sectors -
textiles, leather products, readymade garments, handicrafts,
engineering products, sports goods, processed agriculture
products, marine items and toys.
The benefit would extend to small and medium exporters
whose investment in plant and machinery does not exceed
Rs10 crore, it said.
Under the revised guidelines, export credit to these
categories will be available at 4.5 per cent less than
the prime lending rate, which is in the range of 12
per cent. Earlier, the difference was 2.5 per cent.
This
rate will apply to pre-shipment and post-shipment credit
disbursed between April and December 2007.
The
subsidy of two per cent would be borne by the central
government, which early this announced an Rs1,400 crore
package for exporters feeling the pinch after the Indian
currency rose nearly nine per cent against the dollar
since the beginning of 2007.
The move is part of a government package of relief for
exporters announced last week, in view of the rising
rupee.
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